|
Credit & Copyright:
Image Assembly & Processing: Robert Gendler and Judy Schmidt
Image Data: Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Legacy Archive, R. Gendler
Explanation:
The first identified compact galaxy group,
Stephan's Quintet
is featured in
this
remarkable image constructed with data drawn from
Hubble Legacy Archive and the
Subaru Telescope
on the summit of Mauna Kea.
The galaxies of the quintet are gathered near the center of the
field, but really only four of the five are
locked
in a cosmic dance of repeated close encounters taking place some
300 million light-years away.
The odd man out is easy to spot, though.
The interacting galaxies,
NGC 7319, 7318A, 7318B, and 7317
have a more dominant yellowish cast.
They also tend to have distorted
loops and tails, grown under the
influence of disruptive gravitational tides.
The mostly bluish galaxy, NGC 7320,
is in the foreground about 40 million light-years distant,
and isn't part of the interacting group.
Still, captured in this field above and to the left of
Stephan's Quintet is another galaxy,
NGC 7320C, that is also 300 million
light-years distant.
Of course, including it would bring the four
interacting galaxies back up to quintet status.
Stephan's Quintet
lies within the boundaries of the high flying
constellation
Pegasus.
At the estimated distance of the quintet's interacting galaxies,
this field of view spans over 500,000 light-years.
Image Assembly & Processing: Robert Gendler and Judy Schmidt
Image Data: Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Legacy Archive, R. Gendler
|
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Stephan's Quintet - interacting galaxies
Publications with words: Stephan's Quintet - interacting galaxies
See also: