by Craig and Tammy Temple
M33 is a magnitude 6.27 spiral galaxy lying about 3 million light-years away in the constellation Triangulum. It was cataloged by Charles Messier in 1784, but was possibly discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna in 1654. The Triangulum Galaxy is known to contain many huge H-II regions - one being the largest known.
Telescope: Astro Tech AT8IN 8” f/4 Newtonian
Accessories: Baader MPCC
Mount: Orion Atlas EQ-G controlled by EQMOD
Guiding: Orion StarShoot AutoGuider on William Optics ZS66
Camera: Self-modified Canon Digital Rebel XT
Filters: Astronomik CLS-CCD EOS Clip
Exposure: 98 x 240s @ ISO 800 (6hr. 32min.)
Acquisition: ImagesPlus 3.75 Camera Control
Processing: ImagesPlus 3.75 – Calibrated, registered, Sigma-clipped averaged, DDP
Post-processing: Adobe Photoshop CS4; Gradient XTerminator; Noise Ninja, Noel Carboni's Tools
Date(s): October 18 & 19, 2009
Temperature(s): 45ºF, 53ºF
SQM reading (begin - end): 18.76 – 19.35 mags./sq. arcsec