Stephan's Quintet

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Stephan's Quintet is a group of 5 galaxies in the constellation Pegasus. The upper left galaxy of the main group (NGC 7319) glows at magnitude 13.1. The lower left galaxy (NGC 7320) is the brightest in the group at magnitude 12.7. The lower right galaxy (NGC 7317) is the dimmest at magnitude 13.6. The center galaxy (NGC 7318) has a close companion, and glows at magnitude13.1.

This shot was taken on August 17, 2001 at the Oregon Star Party.  It is a composite of nine 10 minute exposures. The images were unbinned.  Processing included a bit of CCDSharp.  The equipment was the 12" LX200 at f/6.3 through the AO7 to the ST-8E CCD.

Previous attempt taken Sept 2, 1999:

A composite of 32 one minute exposures.  The original data was RGB files, but the color image was no good (too noisy).  When all data was combined, its not too bad.  All data was at f/6.3 with the 12" LX200 and the Meade 416XT camera.

Previous attempt June 26, 1998:

This image is a composite of three 10 minute binned exposures. Autoguided with a 201XT through a 90mm ETX.There was a great deal of dew on the scope when I was done, such that I'm sure that I must have lost resolution and contrast. This shot really needs to be retaken.

Taken at the ARGO site.