This is a galaxy cluster in the constellation of Pegasus. It is far, far away. Mind that not all of these galaxies are the same distance away, it only looks so because they are the same part of the sky.
From the top left, NGC 7319
Colliding galaxies, NGC 7318 A and B
The one in the bottom right is NGC 7317
The one in the bottom left is closer to us than the others, it is NGC 7320.
Together, they are Stephan's Quintet. They are an extremely beautiful galaxy cluster.
NGC 7320 is about 39 million light-years from Earth
The other ones are around 340 million light-years away, a long way away no matter what scale you use.
All of them display redshift, which means they are moving away from us, though it is more like the expansion of the Universe is carrying them further away. I will talk about the expansion of the Universe some other time.
I have loved looking at Stephan's Quintet since I first saw it in school all those years ago. Not long after the last repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, it took a fabulous picture of Stephan's Quintet, which you can find on hubblesite.org
It is one of my favorite astronomical objects. If I am ever able to get a potent telescope, likely a Celestron Nexstar of a large apeture, I will look for this and see them with my own eyes. That would be a treat like no other.
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