NGC 6744 - Pavo Jewel Galaxy

This is a perfect example of a galaxy that resembles our own Milky Way galaxy. At about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Pavo its size is more than 200.000 light years, double the size of our galaxy.

Similarly, the galaxy has a highly packed, yellow central region that shows a slight barred structure containing the old stars. Moving away from the galactic core, one can see parts of the dusty spiral arms painted in shades of pink and blue; while the blue sites are full of young star clusters, the pink ones are regions of active star formation, indicating that the galaxy is still very active.