NGC 7331 is the brightest galaxy in Pegasus. This spiral galaxy was one of William Herschel's earliest discoveries over 200 years ago. Although visible in large binoculars, it was missed by Messier. In many respects this galaxy resembles the famous, much-elongated, Andromeda Galaxy, M-31. This appearance is caused by its nearly edge-on alignment. Early observers of the 18th and 19th centuries classified what we now know are galaxies as "spiral nebulae". They noticed that these "spiral nebulae" are often accompanied by smaller, fainter neighbors. NGC 7331 is no exception. Various 19th Century observers reported the presence of eight suspected companions. Modern observations support the likelihood of a true galaxy cluster in the background, but NGC 7331 is probably not involved, and is much closer to us. Modern images show that five of the eight "companions" are really just mis-identified stars or double stars. This error perhaps results from the poor telescopes used by the early observers. In addition to the true NGC galaxies in the image above, there is also a dimmer anonymous galaxy that is sometimes considered NGC 7325. Radio emissions from the NGC 7331 area seem to engulf the nearby galaxy cluster, Stephan's Quintet, located about 1.5 degrees to the southwest. This remarkable system, consists of five galaxies which appear so close together that their images overlap. Many of the galaxies are extraordinary in themselves, showing signs of violent interaction, including highly distorted shapes, and long filaments of stars and gas extending far from the body of the galaxy. This system is the prototype of a class of small clusters of galaxies commonly known as "compact groups of galaxies". There is evidence of a very faint filament of material stretching between Stephan's Quintet and NGC 7331, which argues for a past gravitational interaction. NGC 7320, the largest member of the Quintet, lies in the foreground of its more distant members, and is the most likely candidate for an ancient association with NGC 7331. Text from George Normandin, Kopernik.org
Made possible by the help and generosity of Larry Parker, head gaffer.
Mount: Paramount MYT
Scope: Vixen VCL200
Camera QSI 683
L:R:G:B = 11h:3.5h:3.5h:3.5h