M33, the Pinwheel Galaxy

Lying in the obscure constellation of Triangulum, M33 is the third biggest member of our Local Group of galaxies, and one of only three true spirals in the cluster. It has only a fraction of the size and mass of M31, which is a fairly near neighbor both as seen in our sky and in reality.

This was shot with my lovely Astro-Physics 155mm refractor at f/9. It's one of the few galaxies in the sky that appears large enough to fill the frame with this much detail.


Image copyright by Joe Bergeron.