NGC 1055 is an edge-on spiral galaxy located
in the constellation Cetus that has a prominent nuclear bulge
crossed by a wide, knotty, dark lane of dust and gas. The spiral
arm structure appears to be elevated above the galaxy's plane
and obscures the upper half of the bulge. It is a binary system
together with the bright spiral galaxy M77 (NGC 1068). These two
are the largest galaxies of a small galaxy group that also
includes NGC 1073, and five other small irregular galaxies.
Based on the published red shift, (Hubble Constant of 62 km/s
per Mpc) a rough distance estimate for NGC 1055 is 52 million
light-years, with a diameter of about 115,800 light-years. The
separation between NGC 1055 and M77 is about 442,000
light-years.
