M33 (The Triangulum Galaxy)

Constellation: Triangulum

Distance: 2.4 Million Lighht Years

The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.4 million light years from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC 598. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, which includes the Milky Way Galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy and about 30 other smaller galaxies; only the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and the Milky Way are larger. M33's broad spiral arms are particularly rich in star forming HII emission nebula regions, seen as red glowing areas in the arms. The brightest and largest of M33's HII regions has its own NGC designation (NGC 604). It is seen in the approximately 7:00 position of the galaxy in this image. This massive HII region spans 1600 light years, and has a spectrum similar to the famous Orion Nebula in our own Milky Way; however, it is 50 times larger.