Bode’s Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy
Bode’s Galaxy (centre) is catalogued as Messier-81. In the bottom-left is the irregularly-shaped “Cigar Galaxy”, catalogued as Messier-82.
Bode’s Galaxy is about 12 million light years distance, which is close, on a cosmic scale. It is a bright object, and a favourite target for researchers and amateurs. In 2022, “fast radio bursts” were detected. These are rare radio sources that, as yet, cannot be explained.
The Cigar Galaxy is small compared to our Milky Way galaxy, but it is much more luminous. It is classified as a “Starburst Galaxy” because it is an extremely active area of star formation. Adding to the mystery of this strange galaxy was the recent discovery of a unique radio source that might be from a “micro-quasar”, but cannot be fully explained.
At the right of this image is the third member of the “M81 Group”, the small disrupted elliptical galaxy NGC 3077.
I photographed the Messier-81 group of galaxies from my garden in Strasbourg France on two cold evening in January 2024.
70 images x 180 seconds each.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_81
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_3077
