As with all Galaxies, looking at Messier 81 is another trip down the
collective memory lane of the Universe. Twelve million years – that’s
the age of the light reaching us from Bode’s Galaxy and by cosmical
standards that’s not even really old.
Just like M 82, its edge-on partner galaxy, M 81 is well worth a closer
look, even though the number of visible detail is by far smaller than in
M 82.
What you can actually see is a bright core and a diffuse halo, quickly
dropping of in brightness from the center to the edges and with only
undefined detail visible.
Still Bode’s Galaxy belongs to the brightest and most fascinating
objects of its kind, a must-see for any astronomer out there in search
of a good view.
Date: April 12, 2007
Location: Kegelhaus, Erbendorf, Bavaria, Germany
Instrument: Dobsonian 8″ f/6
Constellation: Ursa major
Seeing: II of VI
Transparency: II of VI
NELM: 6m0
Magnification: 133x
Sebastian Lehner
Wonderful drawing of a bright and well placed galaxy for us northern hemisphere viewers.
Frank