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M 33 is, like M 31, a Local Group galaxy. It is the third largest, after M 31 and the Milky Way. M 33 is 50,000 light years across, about half the size of the Milky Way. It has, correspondingly, about 1/8th of the Milky Way’s stars or about 30 to 40 billion stars. M 33’s arms have some very active star-forming regions. The largest of these is NGC 604, and one of the largest known.
Additional Information
Object
Name(s): M 33. NGC 598
Type: Spiral galaxy
RA: 01h 33m 51s
Dec: +30º 39’ 21.6”
Constellation: Triangulum
Size (arcmin): 69×42
Magnitude: +5.7
Distance: 2,800,000 ly
Image
Date: 2012-12-04
Location: iTelescope.net, Mayhill, NM, USA
Size (arcmin): 230×140
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ 106 f/5
Camera: SBIG 8300C (3326x2504pix)
Guiding: yes
Total exposure: 90min (4x15min, 3x10min color)
Processing: CCDStack, Photoshop CC 2016 and PixInsight