The Nearby Spiral Galaxy M33
The third largest galaxy in our own Local Group (after the Andromeda Nebula, M31, and our own Galaxy), M33 (NGC598) is over thirty thousand light-years across, and more than two million light-years away, appearing on the sky in the constellation Triangulum.
The Triangulum Galaxy (also known as M33) is about 3 million light-years away from Earth. While its mass is not well understood — One estimate puts it between 10 billion and 40 billion times the sun's mass — what is known is it's the third largest member of the Local Group, or the galaxies that are near the Milky Way. Triangulum also has a small satellite galaxy of its own, called the Pisces Dwarf Galaxy.
Under dark sky conditions, M33 is just barely visible with the naked eye in the constellation Triangulum, just west of Andromeda and Pisces. To spot the galaxy, look for the constellation at:
The third largest galaxy in our own Local Group (after the Andromeda Nebula, M31, and our own Galaxy), M33 (NGC598) is over thirty thousand light-years across, and more than two million light-years away, appearing on the sky in the constellation Triangulum.
The Triangulum Galaxy (also known as M33) is about 3 million light-years away from Earth. While its mass is not well understood — One estimate puts it between 10 billion and 40 billion times the sun's mass — what is known is it's the third largest member of the Local Group, or the galaxies that are near the Milky Way. Triangulum also has a small satellite galaxy of its own, called the Pisces Dwarf Galaxy.
Under dark sky conditions, M33 is just barely visible with the naked eye in the constellation Triangulum, just west of Andromeda and Pisces. To spot the galaxy, look for the constellation at:
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Right ascension: 2.11 hours
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Declination: 32.03 degrees
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Visible between latitudes 90 degrees and -50 degreesAmong the galaxy''s most distinctive features are ionized hydrogen clouds, also called H-II regions, which are massive regions of star birth.
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