The Deer Lick & Stephan's Quintet
group of Galaxies
(Click on Picture for larger view)
Added October 27, 2019 ...
The Deer LIck & Stephan's Quintet ... Gaxalies Galore!
I took this 2 hr 52 minute image on the night of Oct 27, 2019 using the larger 11" Celestron Edge telescope with the Starizona HyperSpaceHD reducer to provide a wide field of view of clusters of galaxies.
At the top of the image is The Deer Lick Group of Galaxies with the larger one known as NGC 7331 which is about 40 Million Light-Years (LY) in distance and is similar in size to our own Milky Way galaxy. The other smaller looking galaxies above it are about 284 - 365 Million LY away.
Below the larger galaxy is the Stephan's Quintet, discovered by Edouard M. Stephan in 1877, and was the first compact group of galaxies ever discovered. The larger galaxy to the center on the right is NGC 7320 and is about 40 million light-years from Earth. The other members of the quintet are much further away residing 304 - 356 Million Light-Years away in the constellation Pegasus as viewed from earth. If you look closely in this wide view picture you can see many more far distant galaxies within this view ... galaxies that contain billions and some with a trillion stars.
The Techy Stuff: (For those who want to know)
Telescope: Celestron 11" Edge HD
Reducer: Starizona HyperStarHD ... f/1.8
Camera: Altair Hypercam 294c Pro TEC
Filter: Altair QuadBand OSC CCD 2" Narrow Band
Camera Settings: 60 seconds at gain of 10,000 ... temp: 23F (0C)
Capture Software: SharpCap Pro v3.2.6054 64 bit
Mount: Celestron CGX
Mount Control: Celestron PWI v2.2.3
Subframes: 172
Darks: 60
Bias: 60
Flats: 60
Guide Scope: Orion Magnificant Mini Autoguider
Guiding Software: PHD 2
Polar Alignment: QHY Pole Master
Stacking: Deep Sky Staker v4.2.2 64 bit
Post Procession: PixInsight & PhotoShop CC
Bortle Light Pollution zone: 4.5
Seeing Conditions: 8 (out of 10)
Temperature: 76°F (24.4°C), Dew Point 70°F (21°C)
Location: My Heavenly Garden Backyard, Savannah, GA
This is the video that I made to go with this graphic ... How I set up the scope with the Starizona HyperStarHD lens, the Altair Camera and the 11" Edge HD Celestron telescope and then the review of the final picture showing numerous galaxies besides the two different groups. The video length is 18 mn 38 seconds, but worth the time so grab a cup of your favorite beverage and enjoy the clip.
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