Bodes' & the Cigar Galaxies

M81 (right) is a classic spiral galaxy, somewhat similar in size to our own Milky Way. It is located in Ursa Major at a distance of some 12 million light years from ourselves. The galaxy’s core is most likely centred upon a super massive black hole.

M82 (left) is a curious & extremely active galaxy. It was, until recently, thought to have an irregular structure but it is now discovered to have 2 feint spiral arms.
Both galaxies were discovered by Johann Bode in 1774 and then re-found in 1779 by Pierre Mechain, who added them to Messier’s list.

Image Data:
Focal Length 1000mm
Focal Ratio f8
Exposure 1 hr 46 mins

Blog Post

Worldwide Telescope Link