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PEGASUS - SPIRAL GALAXY - MAGNITUDE 9.5 |
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NGC 7331 - THE PEGASUS GALAXY and THE DEER LICK GROUP
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About this Object: |
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One of the bright galaxies not listed in the Messier catalog, NGC 7331 is quite a treat. Surrounded by several smaller galaxies known as the Deer Lick Group, this galaxy is a showpiece object in the constellation Pegasus. It is often known as the Milky Way's twin in both size and composition. The galaxies of the Deer Lick Groups include NGC 7335, 7336, and 7337, with NGC 7331 itself being the most prominent member of this association of galaxies. Also located nearby, around 1.5 degrees away, is the famous Stephan's Quintet of galaxies, not shown in this image. This galaxy is quite easy to see through a telescope in dark skies and isn't a tough target for binoculars. It is located nearest to Scheat, the most northwesterly of the stars in the great "square" of Pegasus. |
Location:
Comanche
Springs, 3RF dark sky site near Crowell, TX
Date: September
- October, 2005
Seeing:
3/10
on average
Transparency: 7/10
Temperature: Chilly (-25 and
-20 degrees C on camera)
Scope/Mount: 12.5" RCOS
RC @ f/9 and Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG STL-11000M astro
CCD camera
Exposure Info: LRGB
image; 240:30:30:40 minutes (20 minute subexposures for L, 30 minute
subexposures for Ha, and 10 minute
subexposures for RGB, color binned)
Processing Information:
Acquisition
with CCDSoft. Calibration
(darks/flats), registration, gradient removal, and RGB channel combine in CCDstack
(median combine). LRGB
combine, color balance, levels/curves, and
noise removal/local contrast enhancement (Noel Carboni's Astronomy Tools) in Photoshop CS.
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