NGC7331 and The Deerlick Group of Galaxies

NGC7331

NGC7331 (largest galaxy in the field)
Deerlick Group (cluster of small galaxies right around 7331)
Scope: Planewave 12.5" CDK
Mount: Paramount ME (MKS5000)
Camera: Apogee U16M w Astrodon Gen II Filters
24 x 10 min Luminance
13/14/12 x 10 min RGB
Acquired using CCD-Commander and TheSkyX

Processing in PixInsight:
RGB: Gradient removal, SPCC, BlurX, NoiseX, Curves, HistogramTransformation, masked saturation boost to highlights, save-as-TIFF
Luminance: Gradient removal, BlurX, NoiseX, StarX, Curves, HT, HDRMMT, stars added back, save-as-TIFF

Processing in Photoshop:
Luminance layered over the RGB using Luminosity blend mode
Additional sharpening to the L layer
Saturation boost to the RGB
Some additional satellite trail cleanup and noise reduction

Click on the image to see it at 2x this size but still 50% of the original.

NGC7331:
RA: 22h 37.1'
Dec: 34:25
Visual Mag: 9.5
11 x 4 arcminutes

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From SEDS.ORG:

Discovered by William Herschel in 1784.

NGC 7331 is one of the brighter galaxies which is not included in Messier's catalog. It exposes a fine spiral structure despite its small inclination from the edge-on position. Several companions and background galaxies are visible even in our photo. NGC 7331 was among the earliest recognized spiral galaxies, and listed by Lord Rosse in his list of 14 "spiral or curvilinear nebulae" discovered before 1850.

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Lucknow, Ontario
July 2025

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