A spiral galaxy located 2.73 million light-years (ly) from Earth, the Triangulum Galaxy is named for the constellation of the same name. Messier 33 or NGC (New General Catalogue) 598 are the catalogue numbers for it. After the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way, the Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, with a D25 isophotal diameter of 18.74 kiloparsecs (61,100 light-years). It is one of the permanent objects that may be seen with the unaided eye that is the furthest away.
The galaxy is thought to be a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy or on its rebound into it because of its small size, velocities (Brunthaler et al., 2005), and proximity to the latter in the night sky. It is the smallest spiral galaxy in the Local Group (although the smaller Large and Small Magellanic Clouds may have been spiralling before their encounters with the Milky Way).
The Triangulum Galaxy can be viewed with the 20/20 vision naked eye in exceptionally clear viewing conditions without any light pollution; for those observers, it will occasionally be the furthest permanent entity visible without magnification. Its broadness—which astronomers refer to as a diffuse, rather than a compact, object—causes its light to diffuse across a little bit more than a pinprick of the unmagnified sky.
The galaxy is thought to be a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy or on its rebound into it because of its small size, velocities (Brunthaler et al., 2005), and proximity to the latter in the night sky. It is the smallest spiral galaxy in the Local Group (although the smaller Large and Small Magellanic Clouds may have been spiralling before their encounters with the Milky Way).
The Triangulum Galaxy can be viewed with the 20/20 vision naked eye in exceptionally clear viewing conditions without any light pollution; for those observers, it will occasionally be the furthest permanent entity visible without magnification. Its broadness—which astronomers refer to as a diffuse, rather than a compact, object—causes its light to diffuse across a little bit more than a pinprick of the unmagnified sky.
Depending on the viewing conditions, observers may find the galaxy to be visible by direct vision in a truly black (and ostensibly dry, cloud-free) sky or may need to utilise averted vision in rural or suburban skies. It has been selected as one of the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale's key sky marks.
A clumpy stream of hydrogen gas connecting the Andromeda Galaxy and Triangulum was discovered in 2004, providing evidence that the two may have once interacted tidally. In 2011, this discovery was verified. This idea is supported by a separation of fewer than 300 kiloparsecs between the two. (Pawlowski et al., 2013)
M33 is classified as a type SA(s)cd. The ‘S’ stands for Spiral Galaxy, with the A assigned when the galaxy lacks a bar shape structure. The lower case ‘s’ indicates that the spiral arms are emerging directly from the nucleus. ‘cd’ indicates the type of arms of the galaxy, in this case, they are loosely wound arms (Buta et al., 2007).
The rate of star formation is higher per unit area than in the nearby Andromeda Galaxy and is significantly connected with the local gas density. (The rate of star formation in the Triangulum Galaxy is approximately 3.4 Gyr1 pc2, as opposed to 0.74 in Andromeda.) About 0.45 +/- 0.1 solar masses of new stars emerge on average per year in the Triangulum Galaxy. It's unclear whether this net rate is falling or staying the same. (Heyer et al., 2004) (Verley et al., 2009)
A clumpy stream of hydrogen gas connecting the Andromeda Galaxy and Triangulum was discovered in 2004, providing evidence that the two may have once interacted tidally. In 2011, this discovery was verified. This idea is supported by a separation of fewer than 300 kiloparsecs between the two. (Pawlowski et al., 2013)
M33 is classified as a type SA(s)cd. The ‘S’ stands for Spiral Galaxy, with the A assigned when the galaxy lacks a bar shape structure. The lower case ‘s’ indicates that the spiral arms are emerging directly from the nucleus. ‘cd’ indicates the type of arms of the galaxy, in this case, they are loosely wound arms (Buta et al., 2007).
The rate of star formation is higher per unit area than in the nearby Andromeda Galaxy and is significantly connected with the local gas density. (The rate of star formation in the Triangulum Galaxy is approximately 3.4 Gyr1 pc2, as opposed to 0.74 in Andromeda.) About 0.45 +/- 0.1 solar masses of new stars emerge on average per year in the Triangulum Galaxy. It's unclear whether this net rate is falling or staying the same. (Heyer et al., 2004) (Verley et al., 2009)
M33 was taken with the RASA 8 and 533mc Pro dedicated camera. The full details are below.
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After redoing the post processing of this image, the image is a lot better. the core isn't so bloated out and the structure detail is more predominant.
I used the same processing as my previous version but reducing the RGBK channel down more to get the core under control before processing the image further. Below is a side by side comparison between the two processes with the same data set. and below that is a larger picture of the final image.
This target is a large target and fills the sensor quite easily. Minimal cropping is needed unless you wish to remove stars. The only difference I would make is sorting the cables out on the front of the RASA to remove the curves on the stars. The part is ordered, just not arrived before this session.
Processing was quite simple but takes longer over nebula (even though the most of the time is taken by de noising the image with EZ Denoise package). A reduction in the curves after stacking is required due to the bright core. If this isn't done by the end of the picture it will look like the left side picture below, with an over exposed core hiding all the data.
I used the same processing as my previous version but reducing the RGBK channel down more to get the core under control before processing the image further. Below is a side by side comparison between the two processes with the same data set. and below that is a larger picture of the final image.
This target is a large target and fills the sensor quite easily. Minimal cropping is needed unless you wish to remove stars. The only difference I would make is sorting the cables out on the front of the RASA to remove the curves on the stars. The part is ordered, just not arrived before this session.
Processing was quite simple but takes longer over nebula (even though the most of the time is taken by de noising the image with EZ Denoise package). A reduction in the curves after stacking is required due to the bright core. If this isn't done by the end of the picture it will look like the left side picture below, with an over exposed core hiding all the data.
Both images above used the same data, and stacking, just slightly different processes for the final out come. Even then it was only a minor change in one step. Just shows the difference a slight change can make on a picture when you experiment. The picture below is the final version although my personal favourite is above left.
Since I have purchased an EAF for the RASA 8. I have collected new data (also with the current issue I am having with the RASA8 alongside, I have reduced the aperture). This is just under 2 hours of data collection and I have combined the picture with the older version above to create the picture below.
The Pictures above were created by processing both the original picture and a newer version with better stars. (I am currently in talks with the company due to a bad batch of the RASA8. This is ongoing)
I processed the original picture and removed the stars continuing to process the image, I then added the stars back in. The later image was with less sub-exposure time and a ring inserted on the glass to stop the light from hitting the edge of the Mirror which created the bad stars which can be seen in the original pictures, but this time I was concentrating on the stars over the galaxy. Once I was happy with the stars I cropped both pictures to the same size with Dynamic crop and removed the stars from both images. The stars from the later picture were then inserted into the older more detailed picture of the galaxy which created the picture above and is my final image.
I processed the original picture and removed the stars continuing to process the image, I then added the stars back in. The later image was with less sub-exposure time and a ring inserted on the glass to stop the light from hitting the edge of the Mirror which created the bad stars which can be seen in the original pictures, but this time I was concentrating on the stars over the galaxy. Once I was happy with the stars I cropped both pictures to the same size with Dynamic crop and removed the stars from both images. The stars from the later picture were then inserted into the older more detailed picture of the galaxy which created the picture above and is my final image.