NGC 1617

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NGC 1617 is a spiral galaxy in the Dorado constellation, about 45 million light-years away and roughly 70,000 light-years across. It was discovered by James Dunlop on November 5, 1826 and is part of the Dorado Group. The galaxy has an elliptical bulge with a bright nucleus and a smooth overall look, with some dust lanes off to the side. It has a weak bar and a very smooth disk, with no obvious star-forming knots. The disk is slightly lopsided, extending a bit more toward the south, and an outer ring forms the edge of the disk. The spiral arms are tightly wound and almost create a ring after half a turn; two dust knots appear along the major axis in submillimeter observations. NGC 1617 is located about 35 arcminutes north of Alpha Doradus, with IC 2085 about 11 arcminutes north of it.