M81, M82 and NGC 3077
164 x 15sec exposures at ISO200, taken from the garden in Bishopbriggs, Scotland, bortle 8 on 5th Feb 2020, under a 75% moon and with poor seeing due to thin high clouds.
Nikon D5300a, Esprit 80ED refractor with an L-2 UV IR cut filter. Tracked with AVX. Stacked and processed with Nebulosity, Pixinsight, Photoshop and Lightroom.
To add a bit of context to the image... all three of these galaxies are affected by each other’s gravity, with the huge spiral M81 Bode’s galaxy being the dominant. It is theorised that M82 has already had a close encounter with M81, which has stimulated it’s star producing activity, hence the red glow of hydrogen alpha emissions. M82 is a spiral galaxy side on to us, and is classified as a starburst galaxy because of its star forming activity. NGC 3077 is also active, and thought to be distorted in shape because of the gravity of Bode’s.
A fascinating cosmic dance occurring about 12 million light years away!
M81, M82 and NGC 3077
164 x 15sec exposures at ISO200, taken from the garden in Bishopbriggs, Scotland, bortle 8 on 5th Feb 2020, under a 75% moon and with poor seeing due to thin high clouds.
Nikon D5300a, Esprit 80ED refractor with an L-2 UV IR cut filter. Tracked with AVX. Stacked and processed with Nebulosity, Pixinsight, Photoshop and Lightroom.
To add a bit of context to the image... all three of these galaxies are affected by each other’s gravity, with the huge spiral M81 Bode’s galaxy being the dominant. It is theorised that M82 has already had a close encounter with M81, which has stimulated it’s star producing activity, hence the red glow of hydrogen alpha emissions. M82 is a spiral galaxy side on to us, and is classified as a starburst galaxy because of its star forming activity. NGC 3077 is also active, and thought to be distorted in shape because of the gravity of Bode’s.
A fascinating cosmic dance occurring about 12 million light years away!