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Object M82
Description

Forming a most conspicuous physical pair with its neighbor, M81 (THE showpiece galaxies for many Northern hemispherers), this galaxy is the prototype of an irregular of the second type, i.e. a “disk” irregular. Its core seems to have suffered dramatically from a semi-recent close encounter with M81, being in a heavy starburst and displaying conspicuous dark lanes. This turbulent explosive gas flow is also a strong source of radio noise, discovered by Henbury Brown in 1953. The radio source was first called Ursa Major A (strongest radio source in UMa) and cataloged as 3C 231 in the Third Cambridge Catalogue of Radio Sources.

Image
Scope C8
Camera ST2000XCM
Mount Losmandy G11
Filters Baader IR
Guiding Self Guided
Exposure Info 6 hours of exposure time (24x15min)
Date November 12, 2006
Copyright Photo copyright Thomas Kerns, Beluga Lake Observatory