Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy are a fabulous springtime galactic duo
Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy are a fabulous springtime galactic duo
Images of M81 and M82, the pair of interacting galaxies known as Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy, including facts and the history of their discovery.
Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy are M81 and M82, respectively, in the Messier Catalogue.
They are a pair of galaxies that can be found in the constellation of Ursa Major, and are some of the most famous galaxies located in that constellation.
Bode's Galaxy
Bode's Galaxy by Bill McSorley, Leeds, UK. Equipment: SW 150P Newtonian on an EQ5 GoTo Mount, QHY8L cooled ccd camera.
Bode's Galaxy is one of the brightest galaxies in the night sky and is located about 11.5 million lightyears from Earth.
Bode's Galaxy can even be seen through a pair of binoculars, appearing as a fuzzy patch along side its companion, the Cigar Galaxy.
It's named after Johann Elert Bode, who discovered the galaxy in 1774, and is a very popular target for those who like to engage in a spot of deep-sky astronomy and astrophotography because young, hot, blue stars can be seen peppered within its spiral arms.
In Bode's Galaxy's central bulge much older, redder stars reside, while at the galaxy's core lies a supermassive black hole about 70 million times the mass of our own Sun.
Cigar Galaxy
Cigar Galaxy by Pat Rodgers, Huddersfield, UK. Equipment: SW200p, Atik 314L , AZ EQ6-GT, SW ST80, ZWO ASI130mm, Baader ccd LRGB filters, Baader 7.5nm Ha filter.
The Cigar Galaxy, or M82, is known as the Cigar because it has an elongated shape, as seen from Earth, and perhaps also because of its high levels of star formation.
It's a 'starbust' galaxy, and this burst of star birth is a result of gravitational interactions with Bode's Galaxy.
According to NASA, stars are being born near the galaxy's centre 10 times as quickly as they are throughout the whole of our home galaxy the Milky Way.
The Cigar Galaxy really is near to Bode's Galaxy: it's not a trick of perspective. They're both about 12 million lightyears from Earth.
Like Bode's Galaxy, the Cigar Galaxy was also discovered by Johann Elert Bode, and is also located in Ursa Major.
Locating Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy
Chart showing the location of Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy. Click on chart to expand. Credit: Pete Lawrence
Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy are best seen in springtime, and you can find them by first locating the constellation Ursa Major, the Great Bear, and the distinctive Plough pattern located within that constellation.
Identify stars Dubhe and Muscida in Ursa Major. Dubhe is the very last star in the Plough asterism, forming the edge of the 'saucepan' farthest from the handle.
Muscida is the star that forms the bear's nose. Look around the halfway point between Dubhe and Muscida, then scan upwards and you'll see Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar galaxy.
See if you can do a spot of binocular astronomy and catch them both in the same field of view!
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by Bill McSorley, Leeds, UK.
Images
Below is a selection of images of Bode's Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy captured by BBC Sky at Night Magazine readers and astrophotographers from around the world.
Bodes Galaxy, M81
Craig Dixon, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, 15 and 17 January, 1 and 11 February 2024
Equipment: ZWO ASI533MC Pro camera, Sky-Watcher MN190 DS Pro Maksutov-Newtonian, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount
Bode's Galaxy Mark Hellaby, Salford, Greater Manchester, December 2022–January 2023 Equipment: ZWO 294mm camera, 14-inch Ritchey Chretien, Sky-Watcher EQ8 mount
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by Álvaro Ibáñez Pérez, Corral de Almaguer, Toledo, Spain. Equipment: TS 115 Triplet APO Refractor, NEQ6 Pro II and Atik460ex Mono with Baader LRGB filters.
M81 Bode’s Galaxy and M82 The Cigar Galaxy
Craig Toulson, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, 4 April 2023
Equipment: Altair Hypercam 26C APS-C colour CMOS camera, Sky-Watcher Evostar 80ED DS Pro refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
The Cigar and Bode's Galaxies John Short, Whitburn, Tyne and Wear. February and March 2022 Equipment: Unistellar eVscope 2 camera, telescope and mount
Bode’s Galaxy, M81
Jeffrey O Johnson, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA, 7 April 2022
Equipment: QSI690WSG camera, Takahashi TOA-130F refractor, Takahashi EM200 mount
Bode’s Galaxy, M81
Alex Bell, Bath, 4 February 2022
Equipment: ZWO ASI294MC camera, Celestron 11-inch EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain, iOptron CEM60 mount
Bode’s Galaxy and the Cigar Galaxy Craig Ogier, Minehead, Somerset, 16 and 17 March 2021. Equipment: ZWO ASI 1600MC camera, Sky-Watcher Explorer 200P reflector, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount
M81 Bode’s Galaxy Martina McGovern, Cambridge, 22 November 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 294MC Pro camera, Celestron Edge HD 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount
M81, Bode's Galaxy and M82, The Cigar Galaxy Andy Rattler Brown, Preston, 15 April 2020. Equipment: ZWO ASI 294MC Pro colour camera, Explore Scientific ED80 apo refractor, Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount
Bode’s Galaxy
Steve Fox, Camberley, Surrey, 22 January 2020
Equipment: ZWO ASI 1600MM mono camera, Celestron Edge 9.25 SCT, Celestron CGX mount
Bode’s Galaxy, M81 Spitzer Space Telescope, Infrared Array Camera (IRAC), 27 August 2019. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
M81 was one of the first publicly-released datasets soon after Spitzers launch in August of 2003. On the occasion of Spitzers 16th anniversary this new image revisits this iconic object with extended observations and improved processing.
This Spitzer infrared image is a composite mosaic combining data from the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) at wavelengths of 3.6/4.5 microns (blue/cyan) and 8 microns (green) with data from the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) at 24 microns (red).
The 3.6-micron near-infrared data (blue) traces the distribution of stars, although the Spitzer image is virtually unaffected by obscuring dust and reveals a very smooth stellar mass distribution, with the spiral arms relatively subdued.
As one moves to longer wavelengths, the spiral arms become the dominant feature of the galaxy. The 8-micron emission (green) is dominated by infrared light radiated by hot dust that has been heated by nearby luminous stars. Dust in the galaxy is bathed by ultraviolet and visible light from nearby stars. Upon absorbing an ultraviolet or visible-light photon, a dust grain is heated and re-emits the energy at longer infrared wavelengths. The dust particles are composed of silicates (chemically similar to beach sand), carbonaceous grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and trace the gas distribution in the galaxy. The well-mixed gas (which is best detected at radio wavelengths) and dust provide a reservoir of raw materials for future star formation.
The 24-micron MIPS data (red) shows emission from warm dust heated by the most luminous young stars. The scattering of compact red spots along the spiral arms show wh
Bode's Galaxy, as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Acknowledgment: A. Zezas and J. Huchra (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Bode’s Nebulae
Matt Baker, Ashbourne, 30 March 2019
Equipment: Nikon D3200 DSLR camera, Sky-Watcher Explorer 130P-DS Newtonian, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount.
Bodes Galaxy, Carl Gough, West Sussex, 15 February 2019. Equipment: Canon EOS 600D DSLR camera, Orion 8-inch Ritchey-Chrétien, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro SynScan mount.
Bode’s Galaxy, James Harrison, Oxfordshire, 18, 26 February 2019. Equipment: ZWO ASI183MM-PRO mono camera, Sky-Watcher Explorer 200PDS Newtonian, Sky-Watcher EQ-6R Pro mount.
Bode's Galaxy by Jeffrey O. Johnson, Las Cruces, NM USA. Equipment: Tak TOA-130F, Tak EM200, QSI690wsg, 18x10min L, 2x5min R, 3x5min ea GB (bin2x2); 10xdarks/flats/fdarks/bias.
Dave Frost, Holloway, near Matlcok, Derbyshire, UK. Equipment: Altair 8" reflector mounted on a Vixen Sphinx mount. Guiding with PHD2 using ZWO AS120MC-S and PHD2.
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by Tom Howard, Isle of Wight, UK. Equipment: Nikon D7000 DSLR, TS-Optics 65mm Quadruplet, Skywatcher AZ-EQ6 mount.
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by Simon Todd, Haywards Heath, UK. Equipment: Qhyccd 183M Back Illuminated ColdMOS Camera at -20C, Sky-Watcher 8" Quattro F4, Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro, Qhyccd QHY5L-II, Sky-Watcher 90x50 Finder, Starlight Xpress Ltd 7x36mm EFW, Baader Planetarium LRGB 7nm Ha.
Bode's Galaxy by John Tonks, Pembrokeshire, UK. Equipment: 180mm Maksutov, ZWO 1600MM camera, 20 x 120sec per channel LRGB image.
Bode's Galaxy by Jaspal Chadha, London, UK. Equipment: Takahashi 130 with reducer telescope, Ioptron CEM60 mount, QSI 690 CCD.
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by Martin Bradley, Chesterfield, UK. Equipment: Tak FSQ 106 with 0.73 reducer, QSI 532 wsg.
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by Bill McSorley, Leeds, UK. Equipment: SW 150P on an EQ5 Pro Mount, QHY8L cooled ccd camera.
Cigar Galaxy by Mark Griffith, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK. Equipment: Celestron C11 Sct, Skywatcher NEQ6 pro mount,Atik 383L camera, motorised filter wheel and Astronomik filters.
Bode's Galaxy by Stephen Dean, Isle of Wight, UK. Equipment: Skywatcher 80 mm ED Pro, NEQ6 Mount, SBIG 2000 XM camera with LRGB filters.
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by Andreã van der Hoeven/Michael van Doorn, Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht/Almere, The Netherlands. Equipment: TEC140/QSI583ws and C11 Hyperstar/SXVR-H18
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by Bill McSorley, Leeds, UK. Equipment: SW 150P Newtonian on an EQ5 GoTo Mount, QHY8L cooled ccd camera.
Cigar Galaxy by Andy O'Connor, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, UK. Equipment: Sky-Watcher 200P, SPC900NC webcam, Sky-Watcher NEQ6 mount.
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by Andy Jensen, Suffolk, UK. Equipment: NEQ 5 SkyWatcher 120ED Refractor, Atik 383L.
Bode's Galaxy by Bill McSorley, Leeds, UK. Equipment: SW 150P Newtonian on an EQ5 GoTo Mount, QHY8L cooled ccd camera.
Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by David Saunders, Faringdon, Oxon, UK. Equipment: Canon 450D on a ST80 guided with a DSI1 on a Meade LX90.
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Bode's and Cigar Galaxies by Bill McSorley, Leeds, UK.
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