Galaxies

M33 - The Triangulum Galaxy

The Triangulum galaxy is the third largest galaxy in our Local Group of galaxies. At 3 million ly. it is the most distant object visible to the naked eye - at least for the most of us. (Some claim they have seen M81's light from 12 million ly.). Triangulum Galaxy's spiral arms are peppered with large HII region making it a very interesting target for astrophotograpers. Using Narrowband H-alfa filter, one can emphasize the red colour of the HII regions, making the image very vivid in colors.

[High Resolution : 1751x1751] [Associated Blog Entry]

Leo Triplet of Galaxies

This photogenic trio of galaxies lies in the constellation Leo. Two of the galaxies were listed by Messier as M65 and M66. The third fainter edge-on spiral NGC3628 was discovered by William Herschel later on. The trio is believed to be situated at 35 million light years from Earth. NGC3628 holds also a nice photographic challenge for astroimagers. There is a very faint long tidal tail of stars coming out from the galaxy hinting from the past interaction with other members of the group.

[High Resolution : 2035x1681 @ 3.18 arcsec/pixel] [Associated Blog Entry]

M31 - The Great Andromeda Galaxy

This majestetic galaxy in constellation Andromeda is largest one in Local Group of galaxies. Photographically this late autumn object is at the same time easy and challenging. The core is easy to capture along with the dust lanes near it, but as you go farther from the core more and more dim parts are starting to pop out. The ultimate goal is clear presentation of material bridge between M31 and M110.

[High Resolution : 3364x2296] [Associated Blog Entry]