Sunlounger

The Triangulum Galaxy (M33)

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is part of a group of galaxies know as the 'Local Group'. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third largest member of this group (the Andromeda Galaxy, shown below, is the largest and our Milky Way is the second largest). It lies about 3 million light years distant from us, and under dark sky conditions it is just barely visible with the naked eye in the constellation Triangulum, just west of Andromeda and Pisces. Among the galaxy's most distinctive features are ionized hydrogen clouds, also called H-II regions, which are massive regions of star birth and are the pinkish-red regions you can see in the image. The galaxy is designated M33 which refers to it's place in a list of diffuse or 'fuzzy' objects catalogued by Charles Messier around 1770 to 1780

Perseus Double Cluster (NGC 869 & NGC 884)

The Double Cluster consists of two open clusters known as NGC 869 and NGC 884 (NGC refers to the 'New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars' published by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888). It resides in the northern part of the constellation Perseus, quite close to the constellation Cassiopeia. If you have a dark sky and find Cassiopeia with its distinctive M or W shape, just scan with binoculars from there towards Perseus and the Double Cluster, each containing supergiant suns, is there.

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

The Andromeda Galaxy is our nearest major intergalactic neighbour (the Magellanic Clouds are nearer but much smaller in comparison), being about 2.5 million light years away from us. Its diameter is about 220,000 light years and is estimated to contain around 1 trillion stars, or roughly twice the number estimated for our own Milky Way. With so much information available about this object there's little point in repeating it here, but of course Wikipedia has the usual information packed page.