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Stephans Quintet. This grouping is located in the constellation Pegasus and about about 280 million light-years from the Solar System. It was the first such compact group discovered and is also called Hickson Compact Group 92. This group contains 4 galaxies that are physically connected and interacting, NGC 7318 A and B, NGC7319, and NGC7317 (and possibly NGC7320c). The brightest member of the group, NGC7320 is actually in the foreground, at 40 million light-years from the Solar System, and is not bound to the other galaxies.The interacting galaxies have long arms and tidal bridges, stimulating star and star cluster formation. Eventually the bound members may merge. More about Stephan's Quintet The top image on the left is the JWST NIRCAM and MIRI image. The infrared observation penetrates some of the dust, and shows active star formation. The composite NIRCam-MIRI image showcases the hot dust and structure within the galaxies. MIRI enhances our understanding between the dust in the galaxies versus the shock waves between the interacting galaxies. The second image is the JWST MIRI image alone. The stars do not emit so much radiation in this image but the dusty contents of the galaxies, in red, are greatly enhanced, showing underlying structure. It is also remarkable that very distant galaxies can be seen encased in thick dust. Blue points are stars or star clusters without dust. The third image is the Hubble Space Telescope image taken with the Wide Field Camera 3. Here star formation is evident, tidal interactions as well as dust. Young, bright blue star clusters and pinkish clouds of hydrogen where new stars are embedded. These stars are less than 10 million years old and have not yet blown away the surrounding gas.Stars are enhanced somewhat as many of these objects emit strongly in the blue.  Stephans Quintet Wide Field |
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NGC7318 A and B. NGC7318 A and B are two galaxies in the compact group. The image shows the strong interaction between the two including tidal tails and substatial disruption of regular spiral structures. There are shock waves present and star and cluster formation throughout both structures. More about NGC7318 A and B. NGC7318 A and B NIRCAM plus MIRI: image and 3D print Full galaxy stl file [download]. Part 1 stl file [download]. Part 2 stl file [download]. NGC7318 A and B MIRI: image and 3D print Full galaxy stl file [download]. Part 1 stl file [download]. Part 2 stl file [download]. NGC7318 A and B HST WFC3: image and 3D print Full galaxy stl file [download]. Part 1 stl file [download]. Part 2 stl file [download]. |
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NGC7319. The arms of this spiral galaxy, at first seem well organized but in detail the spiral arms, dust and gas are disrupted, due to interaction with the other galaxies in the group. NGC7319 has had much neutral hydrogen stripped out of it into a long tail maybe due to a collision with NGC7320c (see Wide Field image above). Notice it exhibits little active star formation compared with the other members of the group. More about NGC7319. NGC7319 NIRCAM plus MIRI: image and 3Dprint NGC7319 MIRI: image and 3Dprint NGC7319 HSTWFC3: image and 3Dprint |
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NGC7320. This galaxy is visually part of the Stephan's Quintet group, but is physically much closer to the Solar System than the main group. It is 40 million years from the Solar System. More about NGC7320 NGC7320 NIRCAM and MIRI: image and 3Dprint NGC7320 MIRI: image and 3Dprint NGC7320 HSTWFC3: image and 3Dprint |
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Xrays from Stephan's Quintet Provided by the CHANDRA Xray Observatory. As noted by CXO "the curved, light blue ridge running down the center of the image shows X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Four of the galaxies in the group are visible in the optical image (yellow, red, white and blue) from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope" (ground based telescope in Hawaii on Mauna Kea). The galaxies optical imagery is textured as usual with large dots for spiral structure and small dots for gas and dust, while the Xray is depicted with a lined texture. Stars are as usual, cylindrical symbols. The Chandra Xray alone image is also shown with a corresponding print. More about the image of Stephan's Quintet from CXO. Optical and Xray combined image:
3D print stl file. |
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SMACS 0743 (SMACS J0723.3-7327).This massive galaxy cluster is 4.24 Billion light-years from the Solar System. The massive cluster in the center forms a gravitational lens. This phenomenon means that the mass of the cluster distorts the light paths from objects behind it. It also magnifies the light, and so allows us to see deeper into the universe. >More about SMACS 0743 and also in this reference. SMACS 0743 MIRI (mid-infrared) and NIRCAM (near infrared) images side by side |
About Early Release Observations...
2. Additional JWST and HST Data (separate page) ⇒