NGC 7331 and Beyond
From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day
Big, beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 7331 is often
touted as an analog to our own Milky Way. About 50 million
light-years distant in the northern constellation Pegasus, NGC 7331 was recognized
early on as a spiral
nebula and is actually one of the brighter galaxies not included
in Charles Messier's famous 18th
century catalog.
Since the galaxy's disk is inclined to our
line-of-sight, long telescopic exposures often result in an image that evokes a
strong sense of depth. The effect is further enhanced in
this sharp image by galaxies that lie beyond the gorgeous island
universe.
The background galaxies are about one tenth the apparent size of
NGC 7331 and so lie roughly ten times farther away.
Their close alignment on the sky with NGC 7331
occurs just by chance.
Seen here through faint foreground dust clouds
lingering above the plane of Milky Way, this visual grouping of galaxies is also known as the Deer
Lick Group.
