Triangulum Galaxy

galaxies · space · local group · spiral

Spiral shape. The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy, which means it has a flat disk with graceful, curved arms that spin around a central bulge, just like a cosmic pinwheel.

Close cosmic neighbor. At 2.878 million light-years away, the Triangulum Galaxy is one of the closest galaxies to Earth and is part of our Local Group, a family of galaxies held together by gravity.

Third in size. With a diameter of about 61,100 light-years, the Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest galaxy in the Local Group, beaten only by the Andromeda Galaxy and our own Milky Way.

Also called Messier 33. Astronomers know this galaxy by several names: Triangulum Galaxy, Messier 33, or NGC 598, depending on which catalog they are using to track it.

Named after constellation. The Triangulum Galaxy gets its name from the constellation Triangulum, the region of the night sky where it appears to be located when viewed from Earth.