I'm happy to finally release this image as I've been working on it for a couple months off and on. This is a double galaxy image with Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy (lower) together. I spent several nights trying to get good exposure data and was constantly thwarted by high winds or fog, and bone-chilling cold in higher elevations in the mountains. I shot one night in particular for over two hours and didn't get a single good shot from the wind shaking the telescope, or from the water vapor in the atmosphere distorting the image too much. But last week I was able to get about 5 hours of crystal clear skies and no wind around 2:30am to finally finish this photograph.
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Messier 81 (also known as 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, in the constellation Ursa Major. Due to its proximity to our galaxy, large size, and active galactic nucleus (which harbors a 70 million M☉ supermassive black hole), Messier 81 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. In late February 2022, astronomers reported that M81 may be the source of FRB 20200120E, a repeating fast radio burst.
Messier 81 was first discovered by Johann Elert Bode on 31 December 1774. Thus, it is sometimes referred to as "Bode's Galaxy".
I hope you enjoy this image.
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