NGC 5364 CHI-1 Bundle

NGC 5364 is a grand design spiral galaxy (prominent and well-defined arms, which circle outwards from a clear core) located 54.5 million light years away in the constellation Virgo.

Despite being classified in this way, NGC 5364 is far from perfect : its arms are asymmetrical compared to other grand design spirals. This is thought to be due to interactions with a nearby neighbour, the companion galaxy NGC5363. This neighbour and NGC 5364 are tugging on one another, warping and moving their stars and gas around and causing this misshapen appearance.

LRGB : 11/10/11/11 x 600s