OTHER GALAXIES

Messier 33 is commonly known as the Triangulum Galaxy. It is the third largest galaxy in our local group of galaxies after the nearby Andromeda Galaxy and our own Milky Way. Distance is estimated to be around 3 million light years. At that distance, M 33’s diameter corresponds to about 50,000 light years - about half the size of the Milky Way. It is probably home to about 30-40 billion stars. M 33 is approaching our solar system at 24 km/sec. The galaxy is also sometimes referred to as the “Pinwheel Galaxy,” a name that is more commonly used to refer to M 101 in the constellation of Ursa Major (the Big Dipper). Technical/capture data here.