Monday, July 25, 2022

NGC 7317, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B, NGC 7319, and NGC 7320 - Stephan's Quintet aka Hickson Compact Group 92 (HCG 92)

Stephan’s Quintet (NIRCam + MIRI Imaging) - NGC 7317, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B, NGC 7319, and NGC 7320. A group of five galaxies that appear close to each other in the sky: two in the middle, one toward the top, one to the upper left, and one toward the bottom. Four of the five appear to be touching. One is somewhat separated. In the image, the galaxies are large relative to the hundreds of much smaller (more distant) galaxies in the background. All five galaxies have bright white cores. Each has a slightly different size, shape, structure, and coloring. Scattered across the image, in front of the galaxies are number of foreground stars with diffraction spikes: bright white points, each with eight bright lines radiating out from the center.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

MIRI Image of NGC 7317, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B, NGC 7319, and NGC 7320 - Stephan's Quintet aka Hickson Compact Group 92 (HCG 92), a collection of five galaxies, as seen by MIRI on the James Webb Space Telescope. The galaxies all glow in different colors, surrounded by lacy, glowing clouds of gas and dust. Four of the five are centered in the image. Three are visibly spiral galaxies, with tendrils extending out from their glowing centers. The galaxy farthest to the left appears slightly more clearly, with vibrant blue lacing surrounding the oval-shaped light of the galaxy. This is because the farthest left galaxy is not interacting with the other four; it’s actually far in the foreground from the others. The galaxies all appear against a field of sparkling stars and other, farther galaxies.
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

Stephan's Quintet NIRCam data only
Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Brian3114611

Credit: Juan Carlos Munoz (@astro_jcm)

Five galaxies known as Stephan's Quintet. Two of the galaxies appear close together at the center of the image. One appears directly above, and another slightly to our left near the bottom of the image. Each of these four galaxies presents as an irregular dot of brilliant white light surrounded by glowing haze. A fifth galaxy hides at our center left in an oval shape marbled with a tangle of golden orange lines. Similar golden orange tangles appear around the two galaxies at the center of the image, and the galaxy above them. Above the two galaxies at the center is a bright, light blue cloud. This is a shock wave uncovered by the Chandra data. Scattered across the image are specks of white and golden orange light, gleaming stars and distant galaxies.
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; IR (Spitzer): NASA/JPL-Caltech; IR (Webb): NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI