The constellation of Aries is not noted for its deep sky objects, but it does contain a handful of small and faint groups of galaxies - small and faint, that is, from the point of view of an observer on Earth. IC 1797 is one of these, a galaxy of barred spiral form with a visual magnitude of just +15.4.
The barred spiral form of IC 1797 is clearly visible in this image, as are a number of other galaxies in the same region of the sky. Prominent among these is the distant and indistint galaxy PGC 3089945, seen here to the immediate east of spiralIC 1797. Imagery provided by Aladin sky atlas
IC 1797 is far from the Milky Way Galaxy, at a distance approaching 190 million light years (that is, nearly a hundred times more distant than the Andromeda Galaxy) and receding at a velocity of some 3,900 km/s. This is a spiral galaxy whose arms are arranged in a barred structure, but those arms are faint and diffuse in comparison with its central core.
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