VST snaps a very detailed view of the Pinwheel Galaxy
The new picture is among the most detailed wide-field views of this object ever taken and shows the many glowing red gas clouds in the spiral arms with particular clarity.
The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) at the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Paranal Observatory in Chile has captured a beautifully detailed image of galaxy Messier 33 (M33). This nearby spiral, the second closest large galaxy to the Milky Way, is packed with bright star clusters and clouds of gas and dust. The new picture is among the most detailed wide-field views of this object ever taken and shows the many glowing red gas clouds in the spiral arms with particular clarity.
M33 (NGC 598) is located about 3 million light-years away in the small northern constellation Triangulum the Triangle. Often known as the Pinwheel Galaxy, it was observed by the French comet hunter Charles Messier in August 1764, who listed it as number 33 in his famous list of prominent nebulae and star clusters. However, he was not the first to record the spiral galaxy; it was probably first documented by the Sicilian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna around 100 years earlier.
To read the full article on Astronomy.com click here…