Milky Way's Sister Galaxy Shines in New Portrait

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This photograph of the Triangulum galaxy (M33) was taken with the MMT Observatoryacutes new Megacam instrument a 340-megapixel monster that some have described as a quotturbochargedquot household digital camera. M33 is a sister galaxy to the Milky Wa ...

This photograph of the Triangulum galaxy (M33) was taken with the MMT Observatory's new Megacam instrument, a 340-megapixel monster that some have described as a "turbocharged" household digital camera. M33 is a sister galaxy to the Milky Way. It lies about 2.4 million light-years from Earth and spans about twice the diameter of the full moon. Credit: N. Caldwell, B. McLeod, and A. Szentgyorgyi (SAO)

Sibling rivalry is alive and well in outer space. The Milky Way galaxy has two sister spirals competing for attention from photographers. The Andromeda galaxy usually wins the contest, posing frequently for cosmic portraits. In this new image from the MMT Observatory's 6.5-meter telescope, the second sister finally gets her due notice. Here, the Triangulum galaxy emerges from the shadows to reveal stunning swirls of stars and dust dotted with brilliant pink nebulae.

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