Two Galaxies Share Spotlight in Stunning Stargazer Photo

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NGC 672 and IC 1727 by Ruppel
Galaxies NGC 672 and IC 1727 are spiral galaxies located in the constellation Triangulum approximately 18 million light years from Earth. Gregg Ruppel submitted this image to SPACE.com on Oct. 7, 2013. It was captured from his backyard observatory in Ellisville, Mo. (Image credit: Gregg Ruppel | www.ruppel.darkhorizons.org)

Two interacting galaxies shine in the constellation Triangulum in this spectacular image.

Amateur astrophotographer Gregg Ruppel captured this photo of galaxies NGC 672 and IC 1727 from his backyard observatory in Ellisville, Mo. The image was made over roughly 8 hours of total exposure time with an AstroSysteme Austria (ASA) 10N astrograph with an SBIG STL11000 CCD camera equipped with AstroDon color filters. 

Galaxies NGC 672 and IC 1727 are spiral galaxies located roughly 18 million light-years from Earth. Separated by approximately 88,000 light-years, recent findings suggest a tidal bridge could exist between the two cosmic neighbors. The fairly bright open cluster, Collinder 21can also be spotted to the lower left of the photo.

To see more amazing night sky photos submitted by SPACE.com readers, visit our astrophotography archive.

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Nina Sen
Contributing Writer and Producer

Nina Sen is a freelance writer and producer who covered night sky photography and astronomy for Space.com. She began writing and producing content for Space.com in 2011 with a focus on story and image production, as well as amazing space photos captured by NASA telescopes and other missions. Her work also includes coverage of amazing images by astrophotographers that showcase the night sky's beauty.