M 82 The Starburst Galaxy

Click here for a full resolution image of M 82 (1.17 MB)

The Details
Object	M 82 The Starburst Galaxy in Ursa Major
Optics	Astro-Physics 160 EDF refractor at f/7.7 with dedicated field flattener
Platform	Astro-Physics 1200 GTO
Camera	SBIG STL-11000M
Filters	Tru-Balance LRGB filter set
Date	14 May 2007
Location	White Mountains - Inyo County, Eastern California
Exposure	L 12 x 300 sec 1x1 bin; RGB 4 x 300 sec, 2x2 bin
Software	Maxim DL/CCD, Registar, Photoshop CS2
Orientation	Field of View: 39'56"' x 30'10" centered on RA 09h55m59s DEC+69°40’10” (2000.0) . North angle 230.01 °; east 90° CCW from north
Notes	This irregular galaxy in Ursa Major suffers from severe core distortion as a result of interaction with its nearby neighbor M 81. The distance between the centers of the two interacting galaxies is a mere 130,000 light years, with the pair being about 11 million light years from Earth. About 100 million years ago tidal forces caused by the gravitational attraction of neighboring M 81 triggered an intense region of starbirth in M 82, tearing off the arms of this former spiral galaxy and unleashing a frenzy of star generation within its core. The birth of supermassive, short-lived stars gave rise to intense stellar winds and the spectacular demise of these giants in the form of supernovae explosions, providing the driving force for the plumes and filaments of hydrogen gas (red feature in above image) blasting out from the central region of the galaxy. Brown obscuring dust can also be seen entrained in this high velocity flow of gas emanating fromf the core area.