Messier 81 (lower left), or Bode’s Galaxy, was first discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1774. In 1779, Pierre Méchain and Charles Messier re-identified Bode's object as Messier 81. Most of the galaxy’s emission at infrared wavelengths originates from interstellar dust. This interstellar dust is found primarily within the galaxy's spiral arms, and is associated with star formation regions. The hot, short-lived blue stars that are found within star formation regions are effective at heating the dust and enhancing the infrared dust emission. Messier 81 is the largest galaxy in the M81 Group, a group of 34 galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major. At approximately 11.7 Mly from the Earth, it makes this group and the Local Group, containing the Milky Way, relative neighbors. [Source: Wikipedia]

Messier 82 (upper left), or NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82, is a starburst galaxy. It is about five times more luminous than the whole Milky Way and has a center one hundred times more luminous than our galaxy's center. The starburst activity is thought to have been triggered by interaction with galaxy M81. As the closest starburst galaxy to our own, M82 is the prototypical example of this galaxy type. M82 was previously believed to be an irregular galaxy. In 2005, however, two symmetric spiral arms were discovered in near-infrared (NIR) images. In 2005, the Hubble Space Telescope revealed 197 young massive clusters in the starburst core. The average mass of these clusters is around 200,000 suns; hence the starburst core is an energetic and high-density environment. Throughout the galaxy's center, young stars are being born 10 times faster than in our entire Milky Way Galaxy. In April 2010, radio astronomers working at the Jodrell Bank Observatory of the University of Manchester reported an unknown object in M82. The object started sending out radio waves, and the emission did not look like anything seen anywhere in the universe before. The object is located at several arc-seconds from the center of M82 which makes it unlikely to be M82’s supermassive black hole. It has an apparent superluminal motion of four times the speed of light relative to the galaxy center. This motion is consistent with relativistic jets in massive black holes and does not indicate that the source itself is moving above light-speed. [Source: Wikipedia]

NGC 3077 (lower right) is a small member of the M81 Group. It looks much like an elliptical galaxy. However, it is peculiar for two reasons. First, it shows wispy edges and scattered dust clouds that are probably a result of gravitational interaction with its larger neighbors. Second, this galaxy has an active nucleus. NGC 3077 was discovered by William Herschel on November 8, 1801. At least two techniques have been used to measure distances to NGC 3077. The average distance measured to NGC 3077 using a couple of techniques is 12.8 Mly. [Source: Wikipedia]

The image was captured with the TMB80SS (mounted on the "classic" Meade 12"LX200). The optical train included the Atik 383L+m, EFW2 and Orion Field Flattener at F6.3 (i.e. native 504mm FL). Guiding was done with the Solomark F50 guidescope and Lodestar camera combo. Astronomik's Lum and R, G and B broad band filters were used. All subs were taken at 1x1 bin, and -10C, and at 7 1/2 minutes each.

Image information -- 2016

L : 82 subs (10.25 hr) on Mar 1st, and 2nd.

R : 36 subs ( 4.50 hr) on Feb 28th 29th and Mar 1st.

G : 35 subs ( 4.38 hr) on Feb 28th and 29th.

B : 35 subs ( 4.38 hr) on Feb 29th.

Processing was with PixInsight, following (for the most part) kayronjm's tutorial of Feb. 24th, 2013. Lum filter was used to develop the Luminance image. R, G and B were collected for the color mix. North is up, and this is a slight to medium crop.

UPDATE 03/12/16: I threw out 23 (of the 82) somewhat blurred LUM subs. Hoping for a bit better definition. I also allowed a bit more of the background to show through on this second one. Not sure a whole lot was accomplished.