Photographing M33 from a Bortle 8 Backyard
I took this image of M33 with my Tele Vue Pronto from my old Bortle 8 backyard in suburban New Jersey. The total integration time is 20 hours and 48 minutes, using an Optolong L-Quad Enhance filter.
The image combines 144 five-minute exposures and 176 three-minute exposures.
A Closer Look at the Triangulum Galaxy
M33 is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Triangulum, about 2.7 million light-years away. It belongs to the Local Group, along with our Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. Its spiral arms contain many star-forming regions, including the large nebula NGC 604.
Look for the dark dust lanes winding through the galaxy and the pink patches along the spiral arms. The blue areas and pink nebulae give you plenty to explore in the larger image.
Gear
- Telescope: Tele Vue Pronto
- Reducer/flattener: Tele Vue TRF-2008
- Camera: ZWO ASI533MC Pro
- Mount: Sky-Watcher HEQ5 PRO
- Filter: Optolong L-Quad Enhance 2"
- Control and focus: ZWO ASIAIR Pro and ZWO EAF
Image Acquisition
- Total integration: 20 hours 48 minutes
- Five-minute exposures: 144 × 300 seconds (12 hours)
- Three-minute exposures: 176 × 180 seconds (8 hours 48 minutes)
- Total exposures: 320
- Location: Former backyard in suburban New Jersey
- Sky: Bortle 8
- Capture software: ZWO ASIAIR
Reprocessing M33 in PixInsight
The image was stacked and processed in PixInsight. This version was reprocessed in PixInsight using RC-Astro’s ML5 engine.
See M33 on AstroBin
Visit the project for the full-resolution image and equipment details.
About M33: NASA’s Triangulum Galaxy overview.