Triangulum Galaxy (M33) 10-28-24

The Triangulum Galaxy (M33) is a spiral galaxy in the Local Group. It is 2.73 million lightyears from Earth. This was my first successful attempt at imaging a galaxy. For only a couple of hours of single-shot RGB data, I was very happy with the result. From my start with the Pelican Nebula, this photo demonstrates significant progress in my DSO imaging skills.

Technical details:

• Lens: SkyWatcher 120
• Camera: Nikon D3200
• Mount: SkyAdventurer 2i
• Filters: N/A
• Exposure: 203x30s at ISO6400
• Corrections: 55 darks, 100 bias, 47 flats, 47 dark flats
• Stacking: DeepSkyStacker
• Post-processing: PhotoScape X, Lightroom
• Bortle: 4

Notes for improvement:

• Would benefit from more total exposure time
• This galaxy has a lot of H-alpha features and would likely look better with a narrowband setup
• There were some issues at the edge of the frame due to drift - monitor tracking more closely