M33

M33, The Triangulum Galaxy, is one of the largest of the small group of galaxies belonging to the Local Group, being dwarfed only by the Milky Way and by M31, the Great Andromeda Galaxy. At about 50,000 light-years in diameter, it is half the size of the Milky Way and contains only a small fraction (perhaps 10%) as many stars. Although it is not certain at the present, it is believed that M33 is gravitationally bound to M31 and thus is part of its portion of this cluster. The distance between these two galaxies is about 750,000 light-years. Both are moving toward the Milky Way. M33 is a spiral galaxy but its form is difficult to see in any but the largest telescopes. Its distance has been recently refined to be about 3 million light-years, quite similar, but slightly greater than M31. M33 contains Cepheid variables which have helped to determine the distances involved. At least 5 globular clusters have been seen to orbit M33 and it is believed that another member of the Local Group, LGS 3, is a satellite orbiting its core. While no supernovae have been seen in M33, several supernovae remnants have been detected.

Image taken October, 2012, with the 300mm Nikkor lens mounted on the ST-8, which was binned 2 X 2. Exposure is 20 minutes, self-guided.

 

Taken November, 2007, with C-14 operating at F:3.5. Exposure is 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I was unable to orient the 402 camera properly to include some of the outer portions of the galaxy just off the upper and lower parts of the frame.