The Triangulum galaxy (M33) is a spiral galaxy located in the Local Group of galaxies, approximately 3 million light-years away from Earth. It is one of the most distant objects visible to the naked eye, and it is smaller than our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured the largest mosaic image of Triangulum ever produced, spanning an area of 14,500 light-years. The mosaic image is a compilation of images taken by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) between February 2017 and February 2018.
The image reveals the galaxy's intricate spiral arms and its central bar, which contains a high concentration of stars. It also shows Triangulum's abundance of gas and dust, which provides the raw materials for the formation of new stars.
Despite being a smaller galaxy, Triangulum has a high rate of star formation, which makes it an interesting subject of study for astronomers. They will investigate the impact of Triangulum's high star formation rate density as they examine the data collected by Hubble.
Overall, the Hubble mosaic image of Triangulum provides a unique and detailed view of this fascinating galaxy, allowing astronomers to study and compare its properties with those of our Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies.
Image credits: NASA, ESA, M. Durbin, J. Dalcanton, and B.F. Williams (University of Washington)