Hickson 92 – Stephan’s Quintet: A Cosmic Ballet of Interacting Galaxies
In the constellation of Pegasus, about 290 million light-years away, lies one of the most fascinating and studied groups of galaxies: Stephan’s Quintet, also known as Hickson 92. This ensemble, featuring five galaxies in the same field of view, has become a natural laboratory to understand the processes of galactic interaction and merger.
A Compact and Dynamic Group
Discovered in 1877 by Édouard Stephan, Stephan’s Quintet is renowned for vividly illustrating how galaxies interact under the influence of gravity. Of the five visible galaxies, four are truly gravitationally bound, while the fifth only appears along the same line of sight, lying in the foreground.
Images of this cluster reveal tidal bridges, stellar streams, and regions of intense star formation, all direct consequences of gravitational forces that distort and reshape these colossal cosmic structures.
💥 A Stage of Cosmic Collisions
Stephan’s Quintet perfectly exemplifies how gravity sculpts the universe. The interacting galaxies are undergoing partial mergers, interstellar gas collisions, and bursts of new star formation. These phenomena are key to understanding how galaxies grow and evolve over billions of years.
The group’s striking appearance was so remarkable that it was chosen as one of the first targets of the James Webb Space Telescope, which unveiled unprecedented details of the gas and dust clouds enshrouding these galaxies.
📸 Images from LilTecan
The LilTecan team has photographed Stephan’s Quintet using LRGB and Hα filters, highlighting both the stellar structure of the galaxies and the ionized gas regions where new stars are being born.
- LRGB (Luminance + Red, Green, and Blue): provides a sharp and realistic view of the spiral structures and the surrounding environment.
- Hα (Hydrogen-alpha): emphasizes emission nebulae and the active star-forming regions triggered by galactic interactions.
✨ Science and Beauty in One Object
Stephan’s Quintet is much more than a breathtaking image: it is a window into the past and future of galaxies. It shows us how, through collisions and mergers, new stars are born and galactic shapes are redefined.
At LilTecan, we combine science, research, and outreach to bring the universe closer to everyone.