Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy

Messier 82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy, is a starburst galaxy. It is 12 MLY distant. M82 experiences gravitational interactions with its galactic neighbor, M81, causing it to have an extraordinarily high rate of star formation — a starburst. (NASA)

Image processed by Andrew F. Macica, original data from Telescope Live.

Imaging Details:

Observatory: Oria, Spain

Telescope: Officina Stellare 700 RC

Aperture: 700 mm (27.5 inches), f/8

Focal Length: 5600 mm

Camera: FLI ProLine PL16803 CCD

Filters: Ha, LRGB

Total Exposure: 10 hours 16 min.

Image Processing: PixInsight 1.8.9-3 Ripley (x64);

BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator (RC Astro);

Adobe Photoshop 25.12.4;

Adobe Lightroom Classic 14.1.1

Instruction on PixInsight from Adam Block Studios.