Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Cigar Galaxy  ·  M 82  ·  NGC 3034
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The Cigar Galaxy (M82), Frederick Steiling
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The Cigar Galaxy (M82), Frederick Steiling
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Description

This is the unmistakable M82, and is my "first light data set" from a new setup I installed at Dark Sky New Mexico in Animas, NM in Jan 2020. I've loved remote imaging with my own gear, and have quite a backlog of data sets to get through!

It always amazes me how extensive the starburst jets are on this spiral. NASA's SOFIA recently discovered through infrared astronomy that the starburst winds (already known to drive the material of those jets) also drag the galactic magnetic field perpendicular to the galaxy, creating an amplified drive of this material to the extents we see in the many photos of this area. It's really a remarkable target that we're constantly learning more about, and it was nice to revisit it with larger aperture (12") since the last time I shot it 5 years ago.

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The Cigar Galaxy (M82), Frederick Steiling