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M 33 - Spiral Galaxy in Triangulum
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Copyright 2006 Hap Griffin
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. The galaxy has a
predominately blue color due to the large number of young, hot stars in its
arms.
Date/Location: November 18, 2006 Griffin/Hunter II Observatory Bethune, SC
Instrument: Canon 350D (modified IR filtering) Digital SLR through
Orion ED80 Refractor
Focal Ratio: f4.5 via Meade .63 focal reducer
Guiding: Auto via SBIG ST237 through 10" RCX-400
Conditions: Visually clear
Weather: 45 - 35 F
Exposure: 265 minutes (4 hours, 15 minutes) total (53 x 5 minutes @ ISO 800)
Filters: Baader UV/IR block
Processing: Focused and captured with DSLRFocus.
RAW to TIFF conversion, auto-dark and flat frame calibration, Digital Development,
resizing and JPEG conversion in ImagesPlus. Color correction in Photoshop
PS2.