At 230 million light-years away, the galaxy NGC 1706 may appear to be alone in space. But it is actually part of a galaxy group, gravitationally bound to other galaxies around it.

About half of the galaxies in our universe are in such groups. This makes groups of galaxies very common in the universe.

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is also in a group. This group is called the “Local Group” and includes galaxies such as Andromeda, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds and Triangulum.

Groups of galaxies are known as the smallest structures where galaxies come together. Larger structures include galaxy clusters, which are made up of hundreds of thousands of galaxies, and massive superclusters that bring these clusters together.

Image description:

A hazy spiral galaxy fills the image. The glowing yellow-white center has faint spiral arms spinning outward, glowing against black space dotted with stars and more distant galaxies.

Image credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Bellini et al.

It doesn't look like he's alone, what do you think?