M33, the Triangulum Galaxy
| M33 LHaRGB image (6 x 10 min exposures for each RGB, 12 x 10min Ha, 5 x 27 lum). RGB and Ha aligned and combined with Registar. Lum layered with PS CS3. ST10XME, TAK 106ED f/5. Click on the image for full size. |
This galaxy is over 50,000 light-years in diameter and is the third largest in the Local Group of galaxies
after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. It is about 3 million light-years from the Milky
Way and is in the constellation Triangulum. The Local Group comprises over 35 galaxies and is thought to
have a gravitational center located somewhere between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. The
galaxies of the Local Group cover an area about 10 million light-years in diameter. For more information on
the Local Group, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Group.
I created this color image of M33 in January, 2009. It shows many blue star clusters and reddish (hydrogen-
alpha) star forming regions in the galaxy's spiral arms. The largest and the brightest of the reddish star
formation areas is known as NGC 604 ((lower left of the galaxy, at about the 7 o’clock position) and has
been imaged in great detail by the Hubble Space Telescope (see below and at http://heritage.stsci.
edu/2003/30/big.html). This Hubble image really demonstrates the power of this telescope! NGC 604 is
thought to be something like 40 times the size of the great Orion Nebula.
after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. It is about 3 million light-years from the Milky
Way and is in the constellation Triangulum. The Local Group comprises over 35 galaxies and is thought to
have a gravitational center located somewhere between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. The
galaxies of the Local Group cover an area about 10 million light-years in diameter. For more information on
the Local Group, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Group.
I created this color image of M33 in January, 2009. It shows many blue star clusters and reddish (hydrogen-
alpha) star forming regions in the galaxy's spiral arms. The largest and the brightest of the reddish star
formation areas is known as NGC 604 ((lower left of the galaxy, at about the 7 o’clock position) and has
been imaged in great detail by the Hubble Space Telescope (see below and at http://heritage.stsci.
edu/2003/30/big.html). This Hubble image really demonstrates the power of this telescope! NGC 604 is
thought to be something like 40 times the size of the great Orion Nebula.
| NGC 604 star forming area of M33. Imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (http://heritage.stsci. edu/2003/30/big.html). Click for larger image. |
| The various NGC and IC star forming areas of M33. From http://www.ngcic.org/default.htm |