Triangulum Galaxy (APOD 13 Sep 2008)

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 2:40 pm

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080913.html

http://atlasoftheuniverse.com/localgr.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Magellanic_Cloud

Hi! I guess I never payed much attention to the sizes of the galaxies in the local group before. When APOD said that the Triangulum was the third largest; I started to investigate. I found out that the LMC was the 4th largest and a lot of the others are dwarfs. We know Andromeda is on a merging course with The Milky Way: then what about the smaller ones that are out there? Could be one very large galaxy someday.
Triangulum: sometimes called the Pinwheel; doesn't seem to be in on this merger. Anyway I couldn't find anything indicating as much.

Orin

bystander · Post by **bystander** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:05 pm

orin stepanek wrote:Triangulum: sometimes called the Pinwheel; doesn't seem to be in on this merger. Anyway I couldn't find anything indicating as much.

The Triangulum Galaxy (M33) may be sometimes called the Pinwheel Galaxy, but that moniker more properly belongs to M101. M33 may be gravitationally bound to M31, Andromeda.

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 1:53 pm

bystander wrote:
orin stepanek wrote:Triangulum: sometimes called the Pinwheel; doesn't seem to be in on this merger. Anyway I couldn't find anything indicating as much.
The Triangulum Galaxy (M33) may be sometimes called the Pinwheel Galaxy, but that moniker more properly belongs to M101. M33 may be gravitationally bound to M31, Andromeda.

True enough; there is also M83; The Southern Pinwheel.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap051218.html

Orin