M82 = NGC3034 ( 9h 55.8m +69°41´, 8.4 mag. )

This peculiar starburst galaxy in Ursa Major was discovered by Bode in December 1774 and Messier observed it on February 9, 1781. It shows signs of large scale explosions and contrasts with M81 located about 40' S. At about 9 - 17 million ly away, M82 has a diameter of 55,000 ly. Together with M81, it is easy to notice in binoculars 1°50' E of 24 Ursae Majoris (see finder chart below).

The above image was taken on March 19, 1999 from Sooke, BC. Cookbook 245 LDC CCD camera was used on Celestron Ultima 8 f6.3 telescope autoguided with Cookbook 211 LDC CCD camera on piggybacked 500mm f8 telephoto lens. Six white exposures (240 sec. each) as well as cyan, magenta and yellow-filtered integrations (4 x 240 sec. each) were processed with AIP4WIN. Color image was then adjusted in Lab color space using Corel PhotoPaint 8.

North is to the right.

Map created in Guide 7.0 - 7°45' x 10°. North is up.

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© Jan Wisniewski