Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  Bode's Galaxy  ·  M 81  ·  NGC 3031
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M81, Steven Joseph Hill

M81

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M81, Steven Joseph Hill

M81

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Description

M81 - Messier 81 (AKA as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy), is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years distant in the constellation of Ursa Major. Messier 81 was first discovered by Johann Elert Bode on 31 December 1774, and thus often referred to as 'Bode's Galaxy'. A black hole of 70 million solar masses resides at its center and is about 15 times the mass of the Milky Way’s central black hole.

Imaged from home on 23 April 2024 using a SkyWatcher Esprit 120 ED super APO Triplet, ASI2600MC Duo camera, Optolong L-Pro filter (to counter a 99.8% 14.7 day illuminated Moon) and a ZWO AM5 Harmonic drive. As only five hours capture time on target with poor UK weather and a full Moon to contend with, the result was OK. Image processed using PixInsight and Lightroom. Antoniadi Scale II.

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