NGC 5264 was imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2016. The galaxy is relatively small: it is a dwarf galaxy, a type of galaxy much smaller than normal spiral galaxies and elliptical galaxies. In fact, it is only 11000 light years (3300 parsecs) wide at its widest;[4] our own galaxy, Milky Way, in comparison, is about ten times larger.[7] Dwarf galaxies like these usually have about a billion stars. NGC 5264 also is relatively blue-coloured; this is from it interacting with other galaxies, supplying it with gas for star formation.[5]
References
^ abCutri, Roc M.; Skrutskie, Michael F.; Van Dyk, Schuyler D.; Beichman, Charles A.; Carpenter, John M.; Chester, Thomas; Cambresy, Laurent; Evans, Tracey E.; Fowler, John W.; Gizis, John E.; Howard, Elizabeth V.; Huchra, John P.; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Kopan, Eugene L.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Light, Robert M.; Marsh, Kenneth A.; McCallon, Howard L.; Schneider, Stephen E.; Stiening, Rae; Sykes, Matthew J.; Weinberg, Martin D.; Wheaton, William A.; Wheelock, Sherry L.; Zacarias, N. (2003). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: 2MASS All-Sky Catalog of Point Sources (Cutri+ 2003)". CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues. 2246: II/246. Bibcode:2003yCat.2246....0C.