NGC 6744 - Pavo Galaxy

The Pavo galaxy NGC 6744 is approximately 30 million light-years away, with a diameter of about 175,000 light-years. It is assumed that NGC 6744 looks quite similar to our Milky Way if viewed from afar: a central barrel-shaped bulge surrounded by four main spiral arms containing regions of intense star formation. The red dots in the image are HII nebulae, whereas the blue areas indicate the glowing of many young blue giant stars. Similar to the Magellanic Clouds that accompany our Milky Way, NGC 6744 has a distorted companion: NGC 6744B, located northwest of the main galaxy.

The dark halo outside the galaxy appears to be real. It could be an effect of galactic cirrus forming structures mainly east and west of NGC 6744.