Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Bode's Galaxy  ·  M 81  ·  NGC 3031
M81 with IFN Luminance, Girish Muralidharan
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M81 with IFN Luminance

M81 with IFN Luminance, Girish Muralidharan
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M81 with IFN Luminance

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Description

Wanted to get a more detailed, close up image of M81 along with the IFN surrounding the galaxy.

The truth is that the galaxies are not surrounded by this dust - the dust is much closer to us than the galaxies - it just happens to look that way. Kind of like looking at the moon on a partially cloudy night.

This dust, unlike classic reflection nebulas - that are usually illuminated by neighboring stars - is actually illuminated by the glow of our own Milky Way galaxy. And yes, it is very very faint. Steve Mandel named this nebulosity Integrated Flux Nebula, or IFN.

This is my first project with Tak TSA 120 refractor. Will be adding color to this.. hoping for some clear skies!

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    M81 with IFN Luminance, Girish Muralidharan
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M81 with IFN Luminance, Girish Muralidharan

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Milwaukee Astronomical Society