M082

Detailed Information:
This image was taken by Frank Colosimo from his observatory in New Ringgold, PA (The Blue Mountain Vista Observatory). Frank was kind enough to share the excellent data he acquired and allow me to process it. This image is the result of that collaboration. The remainder of the write-up was provided by Frank.

M82 (NGC 3034), also known as the Cigar Galaxy, is a magnitude 8.4 galaxy in the constellation of Ursa Major.

It is estimated to be 12 million light-years distant. It is usually classified as an irregular galaxy and is famous for its heavy star-forming activity. It is 'poster child' for the class known as starburst galaxies. The spectacular 'explosion' of material from its core is thought to be caused by severe gravitational disturbance from a close encounter with M81. This 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. In the infrared light, M82 is the brightest galaxy in the sky.

M82 was discovered in 1774 by Johann Bode, and independently by Pierre Méchain (Messier's colleague) in 1779.