NGC 7331 is a spiral galaxy and is the largest galaxy in a group of galaxies known as the Deer Lick Group. It's about 40 million light-years away. Unlike in most spiral galaxies, where the central bulge rotates with the disk, the bulge in NGC 7331 rotates in the opposite direction. The reason for this is unknown.

Technical Information       

Date:                       August, 2009

Location:                 Green Valley, Arizona

Telescope:              Takahashi TOA 130F

Camera:                  SBIG ST-2000XM

Filters:                     Astrodon Gen 1

Mount:                     AstroPhysics 1200

Exposure:                LRGB = 130:60:60:60 minutes, all unbinned

Software:                 Acquisition: Maxim DL 5, TheSky6

                                Processing: CCDStack, PhotoShop CS3 with various plugins