NGC 6782 is a barred spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation of Pavo, at a distance of approximately 53.01Mpc from the Milky Way. It was discovered on July 12, 1834 by English astronomer John Herschel. John L. E. Dreyer described it as, "considerably faint, considerably small, round, a little brighter middle, 9th magnitude star to south". The morphological classification of NGC 6782 is (R1R′2)SB(r)a, indicating a barred spiral galaxy with a multiple ring system and tightly-wound spiral arms. It is seen nearly face-on, being inclined by an angle of to the line of sight from the Earth.
At the galactic core is an almost circular nuclear ring at the inner Lindblad resonance. This is attached to the primary bar, which extends out to a somewhat pointy, diamond-shaped inner ring. It is actually a double-barred galaxy, with an interior bar inside the nuclear ring. A pair of faint spiral arms extend out from the inner ring to the outer parts of the galaxy, where it joints a double outer ring system. Both inner rings of the galaxy are undergoing star formation, producing hot OB stars, with little star formation occurring in the remainder.