Astrophotographer Ronald Brecher has captured a magnificent view of the Triangulum spiral galaxy bursting with the light of newly formed stars some three million light-years from Earth.
The Triangulum Galaxy, also known as M33, is estimated to be forming new stars at a rate 10 times higher than that of the Milky Way‘s neighboring Andromeda Galaxy, while its glowing core lacks the prominent central bulge seen in many spiral galaxies. As such, some astronomers believe that M33 may not host a supermassive black hole at its heart.
Brecher collected light from the ancient galaxy using an astronomer camera coupled with his Sky-Watcher Esprit 120 refractor telescope as it hung in the skies over Guelph, a city in Ontario, Canada, over a series of nights spread between mid-August to late October earlier this year. He processed a grand total of 24 hours of observation using the astronomy software PixInsight to produce the finished piece — a dramatic portrait of a galactic neighbor that may well be on a collision course with our own Milky Way.
“This is one of my favourite galaxies for testing new equipment,” Brecher told Space.com in an email. “For this image, everything was very new — scope, mount, camera, focuser, rotator, flat panel, guide scope and guide camera. Even the PC controlling the equipment was new. After a little bit of tweaking, I’d say everything is performing very well!”
Night sky enthusiasts looking to embark on their own astrophotography journey should check out our roundups of the best cameras and lenses for imaging the post-sunset realm, along with our beginners guide to astrophotography.
<em>Editor’s Note: If you would like to share your galactic astrophotography with Space.com’s readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.