M81, M82 region; Ursa Major
Astro Systeme Austria N12 f/3.5 astrograph
KAI-11000M; SBIG STL
Total Exposure 6+hours; LRGB 120:85:85:95 min; unbinned
March 3-5, 2008; Inkom,ID
Comments: I first met Steve Mandel at the Astro Imaging Conference in San Jose, CA in 2005. At that time he presented images of high galactic cirrus nebulae not previously imaged. It was at that presentation where he coined the term "integrated flux nebula".
This image (taken in 2008) shows two classical galaxies: M81-a spiral type, and M82-an irregular type. An image of M81 with a narrower field of view may be seen here. M81 shows areas of new stars (blue regions) and new star formation (pink emission nebulae within its galactic disk), while M82 shows a galaxy in chaos. It shows an explosive pattern of central destruction with gasses radiating out from its core. Their distance is approximately 11.8 million light years. The background appears to be cluttered. This is due to extra galactic dust clouds which make up integrated flux nebulae. These are "high galactic latitude nebulae that are illuminated not by a single star (as most nebula in the plane of the Galaxy are) but by the energy from the integrated flux of all the stars in the Milky Way. These nebulae clouds, an important component of the Interstellar Medium, are composed of dust particles, hydrogen and carbon monoxide and other elements."(Mandel {
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Mandel})
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