Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Bode's Galaxy  ·  Cigar Galaxy  ·  M 81  ·  M 82  ·  NGC 3031  ·  NGC 3034  ·  NGC 3077
Messier 81, Bode's Galaxy, Nicholas Gialiris
Messier 81, Bode's Galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

Messier 81, Bode's Galaxy

Messier 81, Bode's Galaxy, Nicholas Gialiris
Messier 81, Bode's Galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

Messier 81, Bode's Galaxy

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

Messier 81 (NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away, with a diameter of 90,000 light years (about half the size of the Milky Way), in the constellation Ursa Major. Due to its proximity to Earth, large size, and active galactic nucleus that harbors a supermassive black hole, M81 has been studied extensively by professional astronomers. The galaxy's large size and relatively high brightness also makes it a popular target for amateur astronomers.

M82 (top), sometimes called the Cigar galaxy due to it's edge-on view from Earth, is the brightest galaxy in the night sky in infrared light, being a lot brighter in infrared than in the visible part of the spectrum. It is a Starburst class galaxy that got caught in a gravitational struggle with M81 for the past billion years.

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

Messier 81, Bode's Galaxy, Nicholas Gialiris