wide field astrophotography
Sitting roughly 12 million light years (mly) away in the constellation Ursa Major, this image features the spiral galaxy M81 (Bode's Galaxy) and the starburst galaxy M82 (Cigar Galaxy).
Nikon D750 | WO Zenithstar 61ii 360mm | 2 hrs, 51 min exposure | 2021-03-07 & 2021-03-20
While generally not visible with the naked eye (except perhaps under ideal dark sky conditions), these targets can be seen as is the case here, using a small telescope. While considered a fairly large galaxy, Bode’s is nevertheless only about half the size of our own Milky Way.
Astrometric annotations for above image courtesy of Astrometry.net
Also seen in the image at a distance of 12.8 MLY is the elliptical galaxy NGC 3077 (Garland Galaxy) and at 11.6 MLY the dwarf galaxy NGC 2976.
