NGC 4945 is an edge-on spiral galaxy in the constellation Centaurus. It was discovered by James Dunlop in 1826.
NGC 4945 is about 13 million light years distant - only six times farther away than the prominent Andromeda Galaxy. For such a nearby galaxy, NGC 4945 is easy to miss, due to its low galactic latitude. The thin disk of this galaxy is oriented nearly edge-on, and shrouded in dark dust. Its yellowish-red appearance is caused by about 1 magnitude of interstellar dust absorption.
NGC 4945 one of the brightest galaxies within the Centaurus A/M83 Group - a large, nearby group of galaxies. The galaxy is the second brightest within the group, after Centaurus A (NGC 5128). NGC 4945 is almost the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy, and thought to be quite similar. X-ray observations show that NGC 4945 has an unusual, energetic, Seyfert 2 nucleus that might house a large black hole. X-ray and infrared observations reveal even more high energy emission and star formation in the core of NGC 4945.
NGC 4945A is an unrelated magnitude 13 spiral galaxy, partly obscured by a mag 8 star. The other prominent galaxy in the field, NGC 4976, is an elliptical galaxy much farther away, at a distance of about 35 million light-years, and not physically associated with NGC 4945.