Your guide to astrophotography

A very busy section of the night sky. This image includes two different groups of galaxies: Deer Lick Group (upper-right) and Stephan’s Quintet (lower-left).

First, the big galaxy, NGC 7331, isn’t really part of the group of galaxies behind it. It just appears that way due to its location in the sky. For example, NGC 7331 is around 30 million light years away. But the other galaxies around it (NGC 7333, 7335, 7336, 7337, 7338, 7340) are around 300 million light years away. They are in the background and are not physically grouped with the big galaxy NGC 7331.

A relatively un-photographed galaxy, IC 342 lies very close to the Milky Way, somewhere between 7 million and 11 million light years. The galaxy IC 342 lies in a dusty area near the galactic equator. Think of the galactic equator as the middle, horizontal line through the Milky Way galaxy. This is where most of the stars and dust are located. Peering through the galactic equator results in objects often being obscured. However, IC 342 really stands out.

Our local group of galaxies includes the Milky Way, Andromeda, Large Magellanic Cloud, M33, M32 plus many more. This group moves through the universe together. IC 342 leads up the IC 342 group of galaxies. The IC 342 group is the closest group of galaxies to our local group of galaxies.