Astronomy Picture of the Day

Good morning RP. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is titled "Stephan's Quintet from Hubble." Please click the link to see the full image. Stephan's Quintet is a visual grouping of five galaxies of which four form the first compact galaxy group ever discovered. The group, visible by telescope in the constellation Pegasus, was discovered by Édouard Stephan in 1877 and is the most studied of all the compact galaxy groups. Pegasus is bounded by the constellations Andromeda to the north and east, Cygnus The Swan) to the northwest, Aquarius to the south and Pisces (The Fish) to the south and east. The galaxy at the lower left (NGC 7320) is 40 million light years distant (the others are 300+ million light years away). Note the loops and tails indicating gravitational interaction between the two upper galaxies.