NGC 6744 (Caldwell 101) – The Milky Way’s Big Brother

This is the first image from the CDK24 I placed at Obstech’s El Sauce observatory in Chile’s Atacama desert last summer. It’s the quintessential barred spiral galaxy, and it’s located in the southern Pavo constellation roughly 24 million light years from Earth.

Some refer to NGC 6744 as the Milky Way’s twin. Others describe it as the Milky Way’s big brother. Given that it’s about 75% larger than the Milky Way, I think the latter one is the better characterization. Both are barred spiral galaxies with two main spiral arms and numerous star-forming regions. And both have dwarf-galaxy companions (in the case of NGC 6744, NGC 6744A is the companion—visible here at about five o’clock). So the galaxies bear great structural similarities. But when it comes to delivering purple nurples, NGC 6744 is going to be the giver—not the taker.

Barred spiral galaxies are distinct from normal spiral galaxies. In a barred spiral, the arms of the galaxy don’t spiral all the way into the center, but are connected to the two ends of a straight bar of stars containing the nucleus at its center.