Messier 81 (Ursa Major)
Fig. 1: One of the brightest galaxies in the night sky: The spiral galaxy Messier 81 in Ursa Major, photographed with a 16-inch f/4.5 Dob on an equatorial platform.
| Object name: | Constellation: | Coordinates: | Apparent size: | Visual brightness: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Messier 81 (= NGC 3031) | Ursa Major | 09h56m / +69°04' | 27' x 14' | 6.9 mag |
The spiral galaxy Messier 81 (M81, NGC 3031, "Bode's Galaxy") in the constellation Ursa Major. Messier 81 gives its name to the M81 Group, a gathering of over 30 galaxies, including M82, which form the nearest galaxy group to our Local Group. Messier 81 is about 12 million light-years from earth and was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1774 (source: Wikipedia).
Exposure time: 1h 5min (20x approx. 3min) at ISO 800, taken on February 25/26, 2014. Processing with Deep Sky Stacker and Photoshop. No calibration frames were taken.
Equipment: Canon EOS 450D Baader modified camera, TeleVue Universal Paracorr coma corrector, 16" f/4.5 "Ninja" dobsonian telescope riding on a dual-axis Tom Osypowski equatorial platform, Lacerta MGEN autoguider, Lacerta off axis system.
Field of view comparison: image of the moon with the same setup.
Fig. 2 - Search chart for Messier 81. Copyright 2025 'The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project', www.siaris.net.