NGC 6822 Barnard's Galaxy

Capture

Seestar s50 186 stacks

Date

13 July 2026

Location

Camden, NSW

Original

1558 × 2772 px

NGC 6822 Barnard's Galaxy is a barred irregular dwarf galaxy residing roughly 1.6 million light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. Measuring about 7,000 light-years across, it spans roughly 1/14th the diameter of the Milky Way. With an estimated 100 million stars, it holds less than a fraction of a percent of our galaxy’s 400 billion stars. The majority of its stellar mass was forged during a major burst of star formation between 3 and 5 billion years ago. NGC 6822 is the closest galaxy to us that is not bound to the Milky Way, making it our nearest independent galactic neighbour in the Local Group. Because its light is spread out over an area about 30% the size of the full moon, its surface brightness is extremely low and therefore difficult to see with a pair of binoculars. Apparent magnitude 9.3.

See it in the galaxies gallery