Explanation:
Galaxies of the NGC 7771 Group are featured in
this intriguing skyscape.
Some 200 million light-years distant toward the constellation
Pegasus,
NGC 7771 is the large, edge-on
spiral near center,
about 75,000 light-years across, with two smaller galaxies just
below it.
Large spiral NGC 7769 is seen face-on to the right.
Galaxies of the NGC 7771 group are interacting, making
repeated close passages that will ultimately result in
galaxy-galaxy mergers on a cosmic timescale.
The interactions can be traced by galaxy
distortions and faint
streams of stars
created by gravitational tides.
But a clear view of the galaxy group is difficult to come by,
as the deep image also reveals extensive clouds of
foreground dust sweeping across the field.
The dim, dusty nebulae reflect starlight from our own Milky Way Galaxy
and lie only a few hundred light-years above the
galactic plane.
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