The lenticular galaxy NGC 6684 occupies the entire image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy, captured with the Hubble Advanced Survey Camera, is located about 44 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pavo (Peacock). It is a constellation in the southern sky and one of four constellations known collectively as the Southern Birds.
Lenticular galaxies such as NGC 6684 have a large disk, but do not have prominent spiral arms of galaxies such as the Andromeda galaxy. This leaves them somewhere between elliptical and spiral galaxies, and gives these galaxies a diffuse, ghostly appearance. NGC 6684 also does not have the dark dust bands that permeate other galaxies, which add to their spectral appearance.
The data in this image were obtained during the Every Known Neighboring Galaxy Census, which aims to observe all galaxies within 10 megaparsecs (32.6 million light-years) that have not yet been visited by a telescope.
Prior to the start of this program, Hubble had observed approximately 75% of these nearby galaxies. Completion of this census will provide insights into the stars that form a wide range of galaxies in a variety of environments.
