NGC 5264, also known as DDO 242, is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Hydra.

It is part of the M83 subgroup of the Centaurus A/M83 Group,[3] located some 15 million light years (4.5 megaparsecs) away.

[2] The galaxy was discovered on 30 March 1835 by John Herschel, and it was described as "very faint, pretty large, round, very little brighter middle" by John Louis Emil Dreyer, the compiler of the New General Catalogue.

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.

NGC 5264 also is relatively blue-coloured; this is from it interacting with other galaxies, supplying it with gas for star formation.