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| Catalogue and alternative designations |
M81 and M82, NGC 3031 and NGC 3034, M81 is known as Bode's galaxy and M82 is known as the Cigar galaxy |
| Type | Galaxies |
| Position | 9 55 18.3, +69 25 31 (approximate centre of frame) |
| Constellation | Ursa Major |
| Camera and Telescope | QSI 583 WSG, 20cm Maksutov Newtonian courtesy Dean Salman |
| Focal Ratio | F4 |
| Exposure Details | LRGB 190:120:120:120 with Astrodon series 2 filters. 5 hours of Hydrogen Alpha was also blended in to bring out the H II regions |
| Description | This
is probably one of the most
interesting galaxy pairs in the
sky. M81 is magnitude
6.94, 26.9' x 14.1' in size and
at about 11.7 million light
years distance while M82 is
8.41, 11.2' x 4.4' and 11.5
million light years. Both
galaxies interact with each
other and other galaxies in this
cluster of which M81 is the
largest member.
|