Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Bode's Galaxy  ·  Cigar Galaxy  ·  M 81  ·  M 82  ·  NGC 3031  ·  NGC 3034
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M81 and M82, JohnEEvans
M81 and M82
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M81 and M82

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M81 and M82, JohnEEvans
M81 and M82
Powered byPixInsight

M81 and M82

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Description

Bode's  Galaxy (M81, left) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82, right).

The pair of galaxies are 12 million light-years away in the Great Bear. M81 is a grand design spiral galaxy about 100,000 light-years across.  M82 is a starburst galaxy (responsible for intense star creation). The pair are thought to have been gravitationally locked together for a billion years. Gravity from each galaxy has affected the other during a series of close encounters. In the next few billion years, the two galaxies are likely to merge, leaving a single galaxy.

M82 is the main galaxy in the M82 group of galaxies which consists of 34 individual galaxies.

This is an LRGBHa image.

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M81 and M82, JohnEEvans