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Sky Chart and Artist Rendering of Triangulum
Origin:
Triangulum is an old constellation named by the Greeks Deltotum or
Deltotron for its resemblance to the capital Greek letter delta (D). It is one of the 48
constellations described by Ptolemy in the Almagest (A.D. 140) but
was surely known much prior to the 2nd-century A.D. Aratos of
Sicily, noting the similarity of the shape of the island Sicily and the
constellation, associated the constellation with the Italian island, an
association which has endured the test of time.
Information:
Triangulum is bounded by Aries the Ram to the
south and Andromeda the Water Bearer to the
north. It is a small constellation but somewhat distinct by virtue
of it being almost a perfect isosceles triangle. It is nearly
overhead for northern observers at 9 pm on December 4.
Triangulum is home to only one truly
interesting deep sky object: the Triangulum Galaxy (M33, NGC
598). Some say it is visible with the naked eye in areas where no
city lights impinge upon the sky. It has low surface brightness and
is quite extended so 20x binoculars or a rich-field telescope is normally
required to even glimpse the galaxy. In photographs, M33 is
magnificent. |
