M81 and M82

Photograph by Max Freier and Wendy Christou

Rossington 25th March 2017

9 x 300 sec at ISO 800..100 mm APO telescope and Canon 600D Astromodified Camera

Low frame count just to test the repaired EQ45 Mount, and PHD....everything went well.

Messier 81 is the largest galaxy in the M81 Group, a group of 34 galaxies located in the constellation Ursa Major. At approximately 11.7 Mly (3.6 Mpc) from the Earth, it makes this group and the Local Group, containing the Milky Way, relative neighbours in the Virgo Supercluster.

Gravitational interactions of M81 with M82 and NGC 3077 have stripped hydrogen gas away from all three galaxies, forming gaseous filamentary structures in the group. Moreover, these interactions have allowed interstellar gas to fall into the centres of M82 and NGC 3077, leading to vigorous star formation or starburst activity there