The barred spiral galaxy NGC 925: an image – 19 Nov. 2025.
We present this remarkable image of NGC 925, a wonderful barred spiral galaxy unfairly overlooked by astrophotographers.
NGC 925. 19 November 2025.
The image above comes from the average of 18, 300-second exposures, remotely taken with the “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″ + Paramount MEII + SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available as part of the Virtual Telescope Project and installed in Manciano, Italy.
NGC 925 is a striking barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Triangulum, at a distance of about 30 million light-years from Earth. Classified as an SAB(s)d galaxy, it is a member of the NGC 1023 Group, a nearby aggregation of galaxies lying just beyond the Local Group.It was discovered on 13 Sept. 1784 by William Herschel.
What immediately distinguishes NGC 925 is its highly asymmetric structure. Unlike the elegant symmetry seen in many classic spiral galaxies, its arms appear distorted, fragmented, and unevenly developed, particularly the northern one. This irregular appearance is likely the result of past gravitational interactions with neighboring galaxies, which have stretched and reshaped its stellar disk over cosmic time. Such interactions play a fundamental role in galactic evolution, triggering star formation and redistributing interstellar material.
NGC 925 has been the subject of extensive research, particularly through observations of Cepheid variable stars within its disk, as part of the Hubble Space Telescope Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale . These pulsating stars have provided precise distance measurements, helping refine the cosmic distance ladder and improving our understanding of the expansion of the universe.
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