This is an enlarged version of the area from the INF M81 image. I took the liberty to do some artistic representation to M82 and do like the results of using de-fringing to give M82 this glowing ball of fire appearance against the darkness of the vastness from our local group. This was imaged on 021216 from an LRGB Set of astrodon filters.

39 900 second Luminance subs.

18 300 second Blue subs.

19 300 second Red subs.

14 300 second Green subs.

Corrected imaging time is apprximately 13 hours total.

The info below is cited from wikopedia:

M82 was previously believed to be an irregular galaxy. In 2005, however, two symmetric spiral arms were discovered in near-infrared (NIR) images of M82. The arms were detected by subtracting an axisymmetric exponential disk from the NIR images. Even though the arms were detected in NIR images, they are bluer than the disk. The arms were previously missed due to M82's high disk surface brightness, our nearly edge-on view of this galaxy (~80°),[6] and obscuration by a complex network of dusty filaments in its optical images. These arms emanate from the ends of the NIR bar and can be followed for the length of 3 disc scales. Assuming that the northern part of M82 is nearer to us, as most of the literature does, the observed sense of rotation implies trailing arms.[13]

Starburst region[edit]

In 2005, the Hubble Space Telescope revealed 197 young massive clusters in the starburst core.[6] The average mass of these clusters is around 200,000 solar masses, hence the starburst core is a very energetic and high-density environment.[6] Throughout the galaxy's center, young stars are being born 10 times faster than they are inside our entire Milky Way Galaxy.[14]

In the core of M82, the active starburst region spans a diameter of 500 pc. Four high surface brightness regions or clumps (designated A, C, D, and E) are detectable in this region at visible wavelengths.[6] These clumps correspond to known sources at X-ray, infrared, and radio frequencies.[6] Consequently, they are thought to be the least obscured starburst clusters from our vantage point.[6] M82's unique bipolar outflow (or 'superwind') appears to be concentrated on clumps A and C and is fueled by energy released by supernovae within the clumps which occur at a rate of about one every ten years.[6]

The Chandra X-ray Observatory detected fluctuating X-ray emissions from a location approximately 600 light-years away from the center of M82. Astronomers have postulated that this fluctuating emission comes from the first known intermediate-mass black hole, of roughly 200 to 5000 solar masses.[15] M82, like most galaxies, hosts a supermassive black hole at its center with a mass of approximately 3 x 107 solar masses as measured from stellar dynamics.[16].