M82 - Cigar Galaxy
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The Cigar Galaxy M82 is located in the constellation Ursa Major, approximately 12 million light-years from Earth. It is a barred spiral galaxy with apparent angular dimensions of approximately 11' by 4', which corresponds to an actual diameter of about 37,000 light-years at the stated distance. The apparent magnitude of M82 is approximately 8.4m. This galaxy is part of a galactic group that also includes the neighboring Bode’s Galaxy M81.
The star formation rate in the Cigar Galaxy is about ten times higher than that of our Milky Way. Numerous young star clusters have been observed within the galaxy, likely formed as a result of gravitational interaction with Bode’s Galaxy around 600 million years ago.
The Cigar Galaxy was discovered on December 31, 1774, by the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode. In August 1779, it was independently discovered by Pierre Méchain, and in 1781, Charles Messier added it to his catalog as object number 82. In 2014, a supernova designated SN 2014J was observed in M82, which was visible even with small telescopes.
Observations
February 2, 2025, around 10:30 PM – Jaworzno (suburbs)
moderate light pollution
A frosty night with clear skies was a perfect opportunity for a brief stargazing session, and setting up the equipment took only a moment.
The Cigar Galaxy lies so close to Bode’s Galaxy on the celestial sphere that I could not resist attempting to capture both objects in a single photograph, which turned out quite well.
Parametry fotografii 1:
- DWARF3
- Total exposure time: 50 minutes (stack of 200 RAW frames at 15s each)
- Lens: 150mm (aperture: 35mm)
- Tripod: photographic
Further readings:
- Gil de Paz A., Boissier S., Madore B., Seibert M., Boselli A., et al., The GALEX Ultraviolet Atlas of Nearby Galaxies, Astrophysical Journal Supplement, 2007, 173(2), str. 185–255
- Gaffney N. I., Lester D. F., Telesco C. M., The stellar velocity dispersion in the nucleus of M82, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 1993, 407, L57–L60
- Muxlow T. W. B., Beswick R. J., Garrington S. T., Pedlar A., Fenech D. M., Argo M. K., Van Eymeren J., Ward M., Zezas A., Brunthaler A., Rich R. M., Barlow T. A., Conrow T., Forster K., Friedman P. G., Martin D. C., Morrissey P., Neff S. G., Schiminovich D., Small T., Donas J., Heckman T. M., Lee Y.-W., Milliard B., Szalay A. S., Yi S., Discovery of an unusual new radio source in the star-forming galaxy M82: Faint supernova, supermassive black hole or an extragalactic microquasar?, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters, 2010, 404(1), L109–L113
Marek Ples