NGC7320 · Stephan's Quintet

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Credit NASA & ESA · Public domain

Chinese name	史蒂芬五重奏
Type	Galaxy
Constellation	Peg
RA	22h36m
Dec	+33°
Apparent magnitude	13ᵐ
Hemisphere	Northern
Best season	Autumn
Difficulty	Hard
Focal length	长焦 1500mm+

About

Stephan's Quintet is the sky's most famous compact galaxy group, five galaxies in Pegasus. Four of them (NGC 7317, 7318A, 7318B, and 7319) form a true group about 290 million light-years away, distorting under gravitational tugs and colliding to drive vast shock waves and tidal tails. The foreground galaxy NGC 7320, however, is merely a chance projection about 40 million light-years away, some seven times closer than the group, a discovery that resolved a long-standing debate over the group's nature. It was among the first JWST images released to the public, and rewards long-focal deep exposures with a spectacular view of group collisions in the distant universe.