The Galactic love birds - M81 & M82 (Hover over the image to spot the surrounding galaxies) (Deepan Vishal)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa) · Contains: Bode's Galaxy · Cigar Galaxy · HD83838 · HD85161 · HD85533 · HD85828 · HD86574 · M 81 · M 82 · NGC 2976 · NGC 3031 · NGC 3034 · NGC 3077

The Galactic love birds - M81 & M82 (Hover over the image to spot the surrounding galaxies)

The Power Couple of the M81 Group:

M81 (Bode's Galaxy): A grand spiral behemoth, 11.8 million light-years away, with a calm and steady pace of star formation. Think seasoned veteran, radiating wisdom and stability.
M82 (The Cigar Galaxy): M81's fiery counterpart, just slightly closer at 12 million light-years. This irregular galaxy is a starburst champion, churning out stars at 10 times the rate of M81. Imagine a passionate rebel, blazing with youthful energy and chaotic beauty.

Their Gravitational Tango:

These galactic lovebirds aren't just neighbors; they're locked in a gravitational embrace. Their dance has stretched and warped their arms, triggering M82's starburst frenzy. It's a cosmic give-and-take, a testament to their interdependent relationship.

Cosmic Contrast, Complementary Pair:

M81's older stars cast a golden glow, while M82's newborn stars paint its arms pink and blue. They're opposites in terms of age and temperament, yet they find balance in each other. M81 grounds M82, while M82 keeps M81 from stagnation.

Lessons for Earthly Duos:

Opposites attract: Embrace your differences and find ways to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Interdependence is key: Support each other's growth and goals, even if they differ from your own.
Maintain your individuality: Grow together while staying true to your unique selves.

Happy Valentines day!

Article Courtesy - Google Bard!

Original
Final
D

PixInsight Addicts
ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
Light Polluted skies
Fast Newtonians
ASI 6200 MM Pro
SoCal Astrophotography
Cloudy Nights
ZWO ASIAIR PRO USERS
Suburban Astrophotography

Please note: The following tables are updated every 24 hours.

Distribution of astrophotographers

This table shows the number of distinct astrophotographers who have been assigned and IOTD/TP award compared to the total number of images awarded.
	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

Distribution of subject types

This table shows the distribution of awards per subject type, compared to the popularity of images of that subject type.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

Distribution of data sources

This table shows the distribution of awards per data source, compared to the popularity of images acquired from that data source.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

Status	Advanced success
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	9127852
PixInsight job	1UUBM31BX59J0TX2DRC4TBG28YHU60NZ
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	TASK_LOG

RA (center)	09h54m59s.33
RA (top/left)	10h05m56s.71
RA (top/right)	10h04m07s.91
RA (bottom/right)	09h42m30s.53
RA (bottom/left)	09h47m06s.83

Dec (center)	+69°02′37″.4
Dec (top/left)	+67°33′10″.8
Dec (top/right)	+70°39′48″.9
Dec (bottom/right)	+70°29′09″.9
Dec (bottom/left)	+67°23′58″.6

Image Index:

Contribution Index (beta):

The Galactic love birds - M81 & M82 (Hover over the image to spot the surrounding galaxies)

The Galactic love birds - M81 & M82 (Hover over the image to spot the surrounding galaxies)

Equipment

Acquisition details

Description

Comments

Revisions

Sky plot

Histogram

In these public groups

		...
You have no new notifications.

Image Index:

Contribution Index (beta):

The Galactic love birds - M81 & M82 (Hover over the image to spot the surrounding galaxies)

The Galactic love birds - M81 & M82 (Hover over the image to spot the surrounding galaxies)

Equipment

Acquisition details

Description

Comments

Revisions

Sky plot

Histogram

In these public groups

Notifications

AstroBin is in READ ONLY mode

Sorry :-(

Sorry :-(

Sorry :-(

Are you really sure?

Warning!

Warning!

Are you sure?

Report abuse

Slideshow settings

IOTD/TP stats (last [x] days)

Distribution of astrophotographers

Distribution of subject types

Distribution of data sources

Sorry

Sorry

Share

Upload new revision

Upload uncompressed source (XISF/FITS/PSD/TIFF)

Delete image and all its revisions?

Delete original image?

Delete all other versions?

Delete all revisions?

Delete this revision?

IOTD/TP stats

The following people like this image

The following people bookmarked this image

Warning

Flag malfunctioning thumbnails

Contains

Remove yourself as a collaborator

Plate-solving information