NGC 7331 and Deer Lick Group

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NGC 7331, the “Pegasus Galaxy,” together with the Deer Lick Group, in LRGB.

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.

About this Object

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 Group 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.

🤖 AI-drafted · unverified

What it is: NGC 7331 is a large, unbarred spiral galaxy often called a near-twin of our own Milky Way. Nearby, a small chain of much more distant background galaxies (NGC 7335–7340) forms the "Deer Lick Group," a popular target for showing scale in deep-sky images.
Constellation: Pegasus
Distance: ~40 million light-years
Apparent magnitude: 9.5
Angular size: ~10.7 × 4.0 arcminutes
Coordinates: RA 22h 37m, Dec +34° 25′

This summary was generated by an AI assistant from general astronomical references, not from Jay's own notes on this specific image. Treat every detail above as a starting point for research, not settled fact.