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)

A few tens of million years ago, the smaller galaxy M82 collided with the larger M81 galaxy (previous image). This gravitational interaction deformed M82 and caused its concentrated burst of star formation. (ESA/Hubble)

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

Imaging Details:

Observatory: Bernard Miller, USA

Telescope: Planewave CDK17 on a Paramount ME Mount

Aperture: 430 mm (17 inches), f/6.8

Focal Length: 2940 mm

Camera: FLI Proline PL16803 CCD

Filters: Ha, LRGB

Total Exposure: 17 hours 10 min.

Image Processing: PixInsight 1.9.3 Lockhart (x64);

BlurXTerminator, NoiseXTerminator, StarXTerminator (RC Astro);

Adobe Photoshop 25.12.4;

Adobe Lightroom Classic 14.5

Instruction on PixInsight from Adam Block Studios.