M81, Bode's Galaxy, and M82, the Cigar galaxy in Ursa Major
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These two interacting galaxies lie in the constellation Ursa Major and are about 12 million light years distant. M81 on the left is working
hard to tear M82 apart. One result is that M82 is goiing through a massive star producing stage and is referred to as a starburst galaxy. The
interaction has been going on for some 2-4 million years. NGC 3077 is a third galaxy also interacting with this pair but is just outside this image on the
upper left. Holmborg IX is another irregular galaxy slightly above M81 and PGC28731 is the smudge to the left. North is to the right in this image.

Telescope	Explore Scientific David H. Levy Comet Hunter Maksutov-Newtonian 152mm f/4.8 mounted piggyback on Meade LX 200 Classic 12 inch
Camera	Canon XT/350d modified with Baader type 1 filter by Hap Griffin
Exposure	57 five-minute sub-esposures at iso 1600
Guiding	PHD Guide from Stark labs with Meade DSI pro I on Meade 12-inch LX 200 Classic at f/3.3
Software	Images acquired, calibrated, stacked and color corrected with Nebulosity 2.2.4 from Stark Labs. Further processing in Photoshop CS 3.
on-line links to more information	for more information try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_81