Galaxies M81 and M82 (Steven Bellavia)

Celestial hemisphere: Northern · Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa) · Contains: Bode's Galaxy · Cigar Galaxy · M 81 · M 82 · NGC 3031 · NGC 3034

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Galaxies M81 and M82

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Galaxies M81 and M82

Messier 81 and Messier 82 galaxies are part of the M81 Group, a group of 34 galaxies in Ursa Major and Camelopardalis constellations.

Messier 81 (M81, 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.
Messier 81 was first discovered by Johann Elert Bode on 31 December 1774. Thus, it is sometimes referred to as "Bode's Galaxy". In 1779, Pierre Méchain and Charles Messier reidentified Bode's object, hence listed it in the Messier Catalogue.

Messier 82 (M82, NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82) is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. A member of the M81 Group, it is about five times more luminous than the Milky Way and has a center one hundred times more luminous. The starburst activity is thought to have been triggered by interaction with neighboring galaxy M81. As the closest starburst galaxy to Earth, M82 is the prototypical example of this galaxy type.
M82, with M81, was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1774; he described it as a "nebulous patch", this one about 3⁄4 degree away from the other, "very pale and of elongated shape". In 1779, Pierre Méchain independently rediscovered both objects and reported them to Charles Messier, who added them to his catalog.

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Title: M81

Description: M81 by itself

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Title: M82 by itself

Description: M82 by itself with hover-over image as inverted color, 2X crop

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Title: M82, inverted colors and cropped

Description: M82, inverted colors and cropped

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Galaxies M81 and M82

Galaxies M81 and M82

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Image Index:

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Galaxies M81 and M82

Galaxies M81 and M82

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