Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Triangulum (Tri)  ·  Contains:  M 33  ·  NGC 598  ·  Triangulum galaxy
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M33 Triangulum Galaxy  HaLRGB, Richard Pattie
M33 Triangulum Galaxy  HaLRGB
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M33 Triangulum Galaxy HaLRGB

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M33 Triangulum Galaxy  HaLRGB, Richard Pattie
M33 Triangulum Galaxy  HaLRGB
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M33 Triangulum Galaxy HaLRGB

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Description

The Triangulum Galaxy was probably discovered by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna before 1654. The galaxy was independently discovered by Charles Messier on the night of August 25–26, 1764; it was his 33rd discovery. William Herschel catalogued the Triangulum Galaxy's brightest and largest HII region (diffuse emission nebula containing ionized hydrogen) from the galaxy itself; the nebula eventually obtained NGC number 604. It is one of the largest HII regions known, with a diameter of nearly 1500 light-years and a spectrum similar to that of the Orion Nebula. NGC 604 can be seen in this image as the bright magenta knot below and to the left of the galactic core.

With a diameter of about 60,000 light-years, the Triangulum galaxy is the third largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, roughly 40% the size of the Milky Way. It may be a gravitationally bound companion of the Andromeda Galaxy. Triangulum may be home to 40 billion stars, compared to 400 billion for the Milky Way, and 1 trillion stars for Andromeda Galaxy. At nearly 3 million light-years distant, Triangulum is further away than Andromeda. [Source: adapted from Wikipedia]

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M33 Triangulum Galaxy  HaLRGB, Richard Pattie