by Michael DiMario
NGC 7331 is an unbarred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Pegasus, approximately 43.79 million light-years away from Earth. It is often referred to as “the Milky Way’s twin” due to its similar size and structure.
The galaxy’s central core is pronounced and contains a supermassive black hole.
This galaxy has recently hosted multiple supernovae, including the notable supernova 2026aaiv discovered on September 1, 2026 shown by the two red lines pointing to the star.
Just a few arcminutes away in the sky, a collection of smaller, faint galaxies are near NGC 7331. Collectively, these galaxy neighbors are nicknamed the “Deer Lick Group.” These galaxies are called the “Deer Lick Group” because NGC 7331 is like a “salt lick” attracting a handful of deer. However, this is only a chance alignment – NGC 7331 lies approximately 44 million light-years from Earth, whereas the four “deer” range from 290–350 million light-years from Earth.
What is very interesting on the September 1, 2026 supernova discovery, it that it was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) automated survey. This is a group of telescopes located in Chile, Hawaii, and South Africa to locate near earth objects or asteroids on their way to Earth to provide an early warning system.
