M33, The Triangulum Galaxy (Timothy Prospero)

M33, The Triangulum Galaxy

The Triangulum Galaxy, also known as Messier 33 or M33, is a spiral galaxy that belongs to the Local Group, the group of galaxies close to our own Milky Way. Here is some key information about M33:

Location and distance: M33 is located in the constellation of the Triangle (hence the name 'Triangle Galaxy'). It is relatively close to us, with an estimated distance of about 2.7-3 million light-years from Earth.
Size: It is the third largest galaxy in the Local Group, after the Milky Way and Andromeda (M31). M33 has a diameter of about 60,000 light-years, making it much smaller than the Milky Way.
Interactions: M33 is thought to have interacted with the Andromeda galaxy in the past. These interactions may have influenced the star formation and structure of M33.
Star formation: M33 is known to have regions of intense star formation, some of which appear as bright pink nebulae in colour images. One of the best known regions is NGC 604, one of the largest known H II regions in the local Universe.
Observation: For those in good observing conditions (away from city lights and with a clear sky), M33 can be seen as a nebula patch with binoculars or a small telescope. With larger telescopes some details of the spiral structure can be seen.
The future: In the future, the Triangle Galaxy is thought to approach and possibly merge with the Andromeda Galaxy, which in turn will merge with our own Milky Way in billions of years.

M33 is an important object of study for astronomers, as its relative proximity allows detailed study of a spiral galaxy and its star-forming regions.

I took this photo in my observatory in Ascona (Ticino, South of Switzerland) Bortle ~5 using my Skywatcher Esprit 80 and a ZWO ASI 294mm camera.

I took it in HaLRGB using Optolong 3nm Ha FIlter and ZWO LRGB Filters.

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Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	8472106
PixInsight job	SWLZ1U44MM0AKQD0CFB45T12XCM3F940
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	01h33m51s.80
RA (top/left)	01h30m16s.47
RA (top/right)	01h40m56s.76
RA (bottom/right)	01h37m33s.24
RA (bottom/left)	01h26m44s.47

Dec (center)	+30°39′54″.0
Dec (top/left)	+29°19′20″.2
Dec (top/right)	+30°22′35″.0
Dec (bottom/right)	+32°00′15″.8
Dec (bottom/left)	+30°55′54″.2

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