There are some things in the universe that do not wow you with color, but rather make you sit and think because the vastness is mind boggling. This is one of those images. Two images here – one that has the galaxy names.

The sexy name for this image is the Deer Lick Group in the constellation Pegasus. The spiral galaxy NGC 7331 is in the foreground of this group of 4 other galaxies – or fleas – can be seen. In the 1980s, an amateur astronomer was observing in the mountains of North Carolina, at the Deerlick Gap Overlook. Because his view of NGC 7331 and its surrounding galaxies was so memorable, he christened them the Deer Lick Group.

NGC 7331 is a spiral galaxy: it is a flat, rotating disk containing stars, gas and dust, and a central concentration of stars known as the bulge. These galaxies are named by their spiral structures that extend from the center of the galactic disc.

NGC 7331 is a mere 46 M (million) LY’s away. But, read on…

To make you feel even less significant, there are the four other galaxies captured and this is their distance from here: NGC 7335 (332M LY); NGC 7336 (365M LY); NGC 7337 (348M LY); NGC 78340 (294M LY). It boggles the mind to think that the light captured in this photo has been travelling for 300 million years plus to reach my little camera….. Humanoid life on earth was not even close to existing then.

This was captured in the wee hours of August 20 and is one hour – 12 x 300 seconds – of exposure.