Stephens Quintet in Pegasus

I've been making the most of the recent clear nights. Maybe this should be called Stephens Sextet since there are no less than 6 galaxies in this field.

Here's a shot from last night;

webtreatz.com/component/option,com_zoom/...geNo,4/key,35/hit,1/

Imaging details under the image.

To put this in context heres some detail on what you are looking at;

The bottom left galaxy is NGC 7320C is mag 15.5 and 34" wide
Upper right is NGC 7317, mag 13.6 and 24" wide.
Upper left is NGC 7320, mag 12.6 and is 1.9' x 1.0
The center pair is NGC7318 A and B and are mags 13.1 and 13.4 respectively.
The lower left one between 7320C and 7318 is NGC7319 mag 13.1 and is 1.6' x 1.2' in size.

Anyone got any idea of the distance to these?

Dave- nice image. Focus to the edge and well framed. Lovely!

One comment - when I zoom in (via your site) I see alot of pixellation.

Also, what's your pixel scale at your usual focal length?

Cheers

Dave

Nicely captured and framed Dave.

That's another lovely shot .... you really have been making the most of the clear nights!

BTW, are some of these galaxies actaully interacting or is it just an optical illusion?

Bart.

A galaxy in Stephan's Quintet is rushing headlong into a cluster of neighboring galaxies at more than 1 million mph and generating one of the largest shock waves scientists have seen. The finding lets astronomers see a galactic collision and could help explain why some galaxies are more luminous in infrared than others. Stephen's Quintet is a cluster of five galaxies 300 million light-years away in Pegasus. One galaxy, NGC7318b, is falling toward three of the others and generating a giant shock wave in front of it. The finding shows what the universe was like a few billion years after the Big Bang. The collision could also give a preview of the fate of the Milky Way in the far distant future.

Thanks for the comments and special thanks to Dave for posting that synopsis of stephans quintet.

Dave: The image as displayed is a jpg for web display, its not really meant to be zoomed in on. Thats why it looks pixellated. I'll post up the full res actual image tomorrow. Must get some sleep!!. I've been imaging into the wee hours since Friday night solid, I'm knackered!!!!!