My astrophotography – M81 & M82 (companion)

Messier 81 & 82 (companion)

• Messier 81 (M81) and Messier 82 (M82) are famous for being a dynamically interacting pair of galaxies located in the constellation of Ursa Major.
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• Messier 81 (Spiral) almost perfect, well-defined spiral arms, making it one of the brightest and most visually stunning spiral galaxies in the night sky.
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• Messier 82 (Starburst Activity) is the “starburst” galaxy ~ it is producing stars at a rate 10 times faster than the entire Milky Way.
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• NGC 3077 is a member of the M81 group of galaxies and it resides 12.5 million light-years from Earth.

• Object Name
  M81 & M82

• Object Type
  Galaxies

• Constellation
  Ursa Major

• Magnitude
  M81: +6.9
  M82: +8.4

• Distance
  M81: 11.8 million ly
  M82: 12 million ly

• Annotate

Telescope:

Mount:

Accessories:

Sky-Watcher Esprint 80ED Triplet

Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT

ZWO ASIair Plus / PixInsight

Camera:

Guiding:

Filter:

ZWO ASI2600MC Pro cooling

ZWO ASI1200MM

2″ Optolong eNchance

• Date:
  Tuesday 17th March 2026

• Moonlit:
  Wanning Crescent 28 days old
  Magnitude: -8.57
  Moonlit: 0.59%

• Total:
  180’s x 25 subs = 1 hour 25 minutes

Object :-

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Magnitude :–

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Right Ascension :-

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M81 & M82

M81 (The Bode Galaxy) / M82 (The Cigar Galaxy)

Galaxy

M81: +6.9 / M82: +8.4

M81: 11.8 million ly / M82: 12 million ly

UMa (Ursa Major / The Great Bear)

M81: 09h 55m 05s / M82: 09h 55m 52s

M81: +69° 04′ 23″ / M82: +69° 40′ 45″

Enlarge on click the map.

(Click the map above for a large view.)