NGC 2997, Grand Design Spiral Galaxy

NGC 2997, Grand Design Spiral Galaxy in Antli, It is notable for its small nucleus and its two sprawling spiral arms. NGC 2997 is located in the southern constellation of Antli at -34 degrees declination. It is speeding from us at about 1100 kilometers per second, which would place it at about 55 million light years distant.  NGC 2997 is thought to have a mass of about 100 billion times that of our Sun, but is probably less massive than our own Milky Way galaxy. NGC 2997 is not seen face-on – it is thought tilted by about 45 degrees. NGC 2997 is particularly notable for its core, the arms converge to form a circumnuclear ring with symmetrically-placed hot spots containing super star clusters. These can be seen by zooming into the image.  NGC 2997 was discovered by William Herschel in 1798. It has a sililiar appearance to Messier 74 which is also a grand design spiral galaxy. https://earthandskyimaging.com/product/messier-74-grand-design-spiral-lalaxy/The image was taken in Heavens Mirror, Yass, NSW Australia using a 17″ Planewave telescope by Martin Pugh and processed by Michael Adler.