Messier 33 Galaxy

I took this image while I was waiting for Comet Lovejoy to clear the trees on the eastern horizon. M 33, in the constellation of Triangulum, is the third largest galaxy in our Local Group (after our Milky Way and M31, the Andromeda galaxy). It is 3 million light years away and is approximately 73 x 45 arc minutes in size. It is possible to view with the naked eye under extremely, exceptional seeing and transparency conditions with no light pollution. The large reddish nebula in the outer spiral arm is the HII (ionized hydrogen) region, NGC 604. Near the core you can see the HII region NGC 595.

30 images x 210-second subframes, Total= 105-minutes. Takahashi Epsilon -180, f/2.8 hyperbolic astrograph, Unmodified Canon 20D DSLR, Astronomik CLS Light Pollution filter, ISO 800, Losmandy Gemini G-11 EQ mount. Acquisition, calibration, normalization, alignment, combine and digital development processing by Images Plus 3.82b, Additional processing using Adobe Photoshop. ATMoB Clubhouse, Westford, MA, 30 November 2013