HapGriffin
Registered: July 2008
Posts: 38
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M 33 is one of four other galaxies which, along with our own Milky Way galaxy, make up what is known as the "Local Group." On very dark nights, it can be glimpsed with the naked eye by experienced observers and covers an area almost four times the size of the full moon.
M 33 has long been known to astronomers, being first cataloged before 1654 and later "re-discovered" by Charles Messier in 1764. Due to its apparent size and proximity, 3 million light-years (just next door in galactic terms!), it has been thoroughly studied and mapped. Several very large HII regions of star formation have been cataloged, along with 112 variable stars, 4 novae, 25 Cepheid variable stars, and a large X-ray source.
Capture Date: October 3, 2008
Location: Griffin/Hunter Observatory
Camera: Canon 40D DSLR (modified)
Instrument: Orion 10" Newt w/ MPCC
Focal Ratio: f/4.7
Mount: AP-1200
Guiding: ST-402 w/ Tak FS-102NSV
Conditions: Visually clear
Weather: 60 - 47 F
Exposure: 85 x 5 minutes @ ISO 800
Filters: Baader UV/IR block
Processing: Focused and captured, RAW to TIFF conversion, Digital Development in ImagesPlus v3.50a. Final tweaking in Photoshop PS2.
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