M 81 is a spiral galaxy with long thin faint dust trails extending from its arms in the constellation Ursa Major. It’s about 11.8 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 6.94. M81 is one of the brightest galaxies in the night sky and is visible with binoculars or a telescope.
Its size and well-defined spiral arms make it an enjoyable sight through almost any telescope or even a pair of binoculars. A telescope with an aperture of 8″ or more will show more detail under dark skies.
This image consists of a little over 9 hours of exposure taken with a RC8 telescope at 1625mm, the ASI071MC Pro cooled astro camera, all riding on an EQ6r Pro German Equatorial Mount. Image acquisition was controlled by APT with long exposure guiding by PHD2. The image was processed manually in PIxinsight.
M81 is nicknamed “Bode’s Galaxy” after it was discovered by German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in 1774.
