NGC1291 is a so called ring galaxy in the constellation of Eridanus.It is about 9.5mag bright with the apparent dimensions of 9.8´x 8.1´.
James Dunlop discovered it in 1826.
Ring galaxies are the result of the collision of an compact elliptical galaxy with a "normal"spiral galaxy.Here you can see other examples of ring galaxies:
the Cartwheel galaxy (ESO 350-40) and the ESO 138-IG29
Position:
Right ascension 03h 15m 29.6s
Declination −41° 17′ 25.6″
LRGB L=25x1200s,RGB=9x1200s each,total time:17.3h,Seeing: 0.9-1.2",
80cm f/7 AstroOptik-Keller corrected Cassegrain, FLI Proline 16803, Baader-RGB-filters, Promt7 CTIO/UNC Chile,remote controlled
Processing: Bernd Flach-Wilken
here is a view of 85% of the CCD-field, click for full resolution:
here is a more detailed view of the galaxy´s centre:
here you can see an infrared-picture of NGC1291 taken with the Spitzer Space Telescope
this is a mosaic view from the center of NGC1291 from the HST in visible light