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A Best Collection of Universes – Stephan’s Quintet

Quinteto de Stephan, NGC7317, NGC7318A, NGC7318B, NGC7319, NGC7320, NGC 7320C. Créditos: NASA, J. English (U. Manitoba), S. Hunsberger (PSU), Z. Levay (STScI), S. Gallagher, and J. Charlton (PSU)

By Middle Land Staff

August 4, 2025
5:19 pm
Los Angeles, CA

Stephan’s Quintet comprises five galaxies: four physically interacting members (NGC 7317, 7318A, 7318B, and 7319), located about 290 million light‑years away, plus one foreground galaxy (NGC 7320) just ~40 million light‑years distant. NGC 7320 (upper-left in most images), being much closer, reveals individual resolved stars. Its disk glows with blue and pink star-forming clumps (H II regions) indicating active star birth. The four interacting galaxies display: Blue star clusters and pink hydrogen emission clouds, marking very young stars (<10 Myr old) in newly triggered starbursts. Long tidal tails and distorted spiral arms, populated with numerous star clusters and gas-rich regions, formed by gravitational interactions and collisions. NGC 7319 (upper-right) is a barred spiral with spiral arms traced by blue dots (star clusters) and red spots near its core—representing clusters of thousands of stars and dust-rich ISM region. NGC 7318A/B appear as a two-core system where one galaxy (7318B) is colliding through the group,

Stephan’s Quintet comprises five galaxies: four physically interacting members (NGC 7317, 7318A, 7318B, and 7319), located about 290 million light‑years away, plus one foreground galaxy (NGC 7320) just ~40 million light‑years distant.

NGC 7320 (upper-left in most images), being much closer, reveals individual resolved stars. Its disk glows with blue and pink star-forming clumps (H II regions) indicating active star birth.

A clash among members of a famous galaxy quintet reveals an assortment of stars across a wide colour range, from young, blue stars to aging, red stars.
This portrait of Stephan’s Quintet, also known as the Hickson Compact Group 92, was taken by the new Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) aboard the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Stephan’s Quintet, as the name implies, is a group of five galaxies. The name, however, is a bit of a misnomer. Studies have shown that group member NGC 7320, at upper left, is actually a foreground galaxy that is about seven times closer to Earth than the rest of the group. (Photo: NASA, ESA and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team)

The four interacting galaxies display:

Blue star clusters and pink hydrogen emission clouds, marking very young stars (<10 Myr old) in newly triggered starbursts.
Long tidal tails and distorted spiral arms, populated with numerous star clusters and gas-rich regions, formed by gravitational interactions and collisions.

NGC 7319 (upper-right) is a barred spiral with spiral arms traced by blue dots (star clusters) and red spots near its core—representing clusters of thousands of stars and dust-rich ISM region.

NGC 7318A/B appear as a two-core system where one galaxy (7318B) is colliding through the group, generating shocked gas, young blue clusters, and hydrogen‑rich star‑forming regions in its wake.

NGC 7317 (bottom-left) is an elliptical galaxy with an older stellar population and relatively undisturbed by interactions—fewer active star-forming regions than the others