Messier 33, also known as the Triangle Galaxy, is located about 3 million light years distant from Earth , and is the protagonist of the most detailed image ever seen of this galaxy. The photo has been made possible thanks to the VST survey telescope ( VLT Survey Telescope ), installed at the Paranal Observatory of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile.
In the photograph of NGC-598 or Messier 33, the second largest galaxy closest to the Milky Way , the bright star clusters and reddish clouds of gas and dust that form this spiral commonly known as the Triangle Galaxy because it is located in that constellation.
The galaxy just photographed is part of the Local Group of galaxies among which is our Milky Way, Andromeda and fifty smaller galaxies. The image was taken with a state-of-the-art 2.6-meter telescope with a field of view that is twice as wide as the full Moon. Thanks to multiple solo exhibitions, ESO created the vivid image that we can enjoy today.
Messier 33, which can be seen with the naked eye on a dark, moonless night, is named after the French comet hunter Charles Messier . Although this was not the first to record its existence, he placed it in 1764 as number 33 on his famous list of nebulae and large star clusters.
