The Triangle in the Northern Skies

 The night sky is full of clusters of stars that can form triangular shapes. One of them is the immense Summer Triangle. Another example is the Triangle in the Southern Hemisphere. Triangulum is a constellation in the northern sky and is often seen from late autumn to early winter. It is northeast of the Great Square of Pegasus, below the "W" of Cassiopeia.

The ancient Romans saw a small and somewhat obscure triangle. The Romans saw the Triangle as Sicily, an island near the triangle. For the ancient Hebrews, the Triangulum was a Shalish, that is, a three-stringed musical instrument.

Major Stars of Triangulum

The major Stars of the Triangulum are the three stars that mark the corners of the triangle. The magnitude of Alpha Trianguli is 3.42. Alpha is 64 light years away from Earth. Alpha stars are not always the brightest in the constellation. That also applies to Triangulum. The second-brightest star in this constellation is called Alpha.
the two stars next to the corners of the triangle are close together. Beta and gamma triangles are 2 degrees apart. This pair is just under 7 degrees from alpha. The brightest star in Triangulum is Beta Trianguli, often known as Mizan. It is 124 lightyears away and has a magnitude of 3. Gamma Trianguli is 118 light-years distant and has a magnitude of 4.02.

The Triangulum Galaxy
Triangulum Galaxy contains many faint galaxies, but only one attracts the attention of amateur astronomers. Triangulum is one of the brightest galaxies in the sky. It also has a nickname for the Pinwheel Galaxy, which can be confusing as there is another galaxy with the same name in the constellation Ursa Major. The Triangulum Galaxy is also known as NGC 598 or M33. M33 is just over 4 degrees from the Alpha Trianguli, heading towards the Great Square of Pegasus.

Under a dark sky, fixed binoculars can see this M33 at 5.7 magnitudes. The frontal spiral galaxy is a beautiful sight when viewed through a telescope or photographed.

If you plan to view M33 through a telescope, make sure you are in a location free of light pollution and your eyes have had a chance to adapt, due to the low surface brightness. The central oval should lighten slightly and you should see a faint glow around it.

Nearby galaxies

As for the galaxy, M33 is very close to us at three million light-years away. So the galaxy doesn't look like it does today, but it looks like it did 3 million years ago. It's the amount of time it took for the light emitted by the galaxy to reach us.

M33 is a member of the Local Group of Galaxies. The Local Group is a family of galaxies that includes the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds, and the Andromeda galaxy.

Conclusion: Triangulum is approaching the northern sky on December nights. It contains the Triangulum Galaxy, a beautiful windmill spiral.