Thursday, 23 July 2020

Astrognome A-Z of Constellations # 80 Triangulum



Triangulum the Triangle
A small but distinctive constellation between Andromeda and Aries, consisting of 3 main stars that form a thin delta or triangle shape. The Greeks referred to it as Deltoton.
Alpha magnitude 3.4 its a F5 giant star with a temperature of 6,000’C and lies at a distance of 63 light years.
Beta magnitude 3.0 is actually brighter than alpha it is an A5 star with a temperature of 8,000’C and is 127 light years away.
Gamma magnitude 4.0 is an A1 class star with a temperature of 9,200 ‘C and is 112 light years away.
Its most important feature is the spiral galaxy M33 which is the 3rd largest member of our local system of our local group of galaxies, following the Andromeda Galaxy and out own Milky Way. M33 has a magnitude of 5.7 and is around 2.7 million light years away, slightly further than the Andromeda galaxy. However because M33 lies face on to us and covers a larger area it is more difficult to see.





No comments:

Post a Comment