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Galaxy M33
M33 was probably first found by Hodierna before 1654 (perhaps together with open cluster NGC 752). It was independently rediscovered by Charles Messier, and cataloged by him on August 25, 1764. Nevertheless, William Herschel, who otherwise carefully avoided to number Messier's objects in his survey, assigned it the number H V.17, on the ground of an observation dated September 11, 1784. Also because of the cataloging of Herschel, the brightest and largest HII region (diffuse emission nebula containing ionized hydrogen) has obtained a NGC number of its own: NGC 604 (William Herschel's H III.150); it is situated in the northeastern part of the galaxy.
Right Ascension 01 : 33.9 (h:m)
Declination +30 : 39 (deg:m)
Distance 3000 (kly)
Visual Brightness 5.7 (mag)
Apparent Dimension 73x45 (arc min)
Image Caption: Urban Observatory A&M 105/650, ST-10XEI 1 hour luminance, 10 minutes each red, green, and blue
Image Credit: John Crilly / Urban Observatory
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