M33, THE TRIANGULUM GALAXY on 2023-10-13+14

This photo was taken in Fort Mckavet, Texas, under Bortle 2 skies, through a 6-inch f/4 Telescope, on a Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount, with a ZWO ASI533MC PRO color camera. The total image acquisition time is: 04 hrs 09 min 00 sec. The processing was done with PixInsight. [Full Size View] Full size files are very large and can take a minute to download. To zoom in or out on a computer, hold down the Ctrl key and use the scroll mouse button, or you can press the + or - key.

The spiral galaxy M33 is in the triangle-shaped constellation of Triangulum, earning it the nickname, The Triangulum Galaxy. It is about half the size of our Milky Way Galaxy. M33 is the third-largest member of our Local Group of galaxies following the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and our galaxy the Milky Way. M33 is forming new stars at a rate approximately 10 times the average found in the Andromeda galaxy. The Triangulum Galaxy’s orderly spiral structure displays few signs of interactions with nearby galaxies. However, that could change in the future. M33 is only slightly farther away from us than the Andromeda Galaxy. It is located about 3 million light-years from Earth. M33 appears to be a gravitational companion to Andromeda, and since both galaxies are moving toward our galaxy, M33 could become a third party involved in the impending collision between the Andromeda Galaxy and Milky Way Galaxy. This will happen in about 4 billion years.

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