NGC7497

NGC 7497 is a spiral galaxy in the Pegasus constellation, approximately 60 million light years distant with a disc size of approximately 91000 light years.  The galaxy shows signs of warping indicating past interactions. You can (just) make out some HII regions in the image below that appear to be semi-randomly positioned within the galaxy. The galaxy is viewed away from the plane of our own galaxy, through a mass of dust and gas known as Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN), which resides in our own galaxy and is approximately 600 light years distant. The stars within our galaxy act together in an integrated fashion to faintly illuminate the gas, hence the name. In 1985, the astronomers Magnani, Blitz and Munday (MBM), decided to catalogue the various IFNs and the one shown is known as MBM 54.The image also features many stars and a several background galaxies. Some of the stars are closer to Earth than MBM 54 and appear sharp and distinct (eg the bright blue star at the top, middle) and some are more distant.  The more distant objects will therefore appear fuzzy if they are viewed though dust and nebulosity. The LRGB image below represents just under 16 hours integration time and was taken with my Esprit 150.