Hickson 44 (also known as HCG 44) is one of the Hickson Compact Galaxy Group members comprising 100 compact galaxy groups. The galaxy group is in the upper left. The four dominant galaxies are all gravitationally bound, causing them to become distorted. I included a much larger field of view to show numerous additional fuzzy galaxies hundreds of millions of light-years distant.

Technical Information       

Date:              April, 2014
Location:        Green Valley, Arizona
Telescope:      Takahashi FSQ-106EDX
Camera:         SBIG STT-8300M
Filters:            Astrodon Gen 2
Mount:            AstroPhysics 1200
Exposure:       LRGB = 6:2:2:2 hours respectively, all unbinned
Software:        Acquisition: Maxim DL 5, TheSkyX, Pinpoint, CCD Commander
                       Processing: CCDStack, PhotoShop CS6 with various plugins