M82
Image details
The image was taken at 3 October 2007 without using a focal reducer at f10. The clear layer consists of a sum of 10 images of 10 minutes exposure each at 1600x1200 pixels. The RGB layers consist of adding 6 exposures of 5 minutes each at 2x2 binning resulting in pictures of 800x600 pixels. For all images darkframes and flatfields are applied. The images are processed further with Photoshop using FITS Liberator. The processing of this image is also descibed in detail in the tutorial section of this site.
About M82
M82 is remarkable galaxy located at a distance of 12 million light years in the constellation of Ursa Major with a visual brightness of 8.4 mag. Forming a striking pair in small telescopes with nearby M81, M82 is being physically affected by its bigger neighbor. Tidal forces caused by gravity have deformed this galaxy, a process that started about 100 million years ago. This interaction has caused star formation to increase 10 fold compared to "normal" galaxies. It is part of the M81 group of galaxies which is one of the nearest to our local group consisting of our own galaxy, M31 (Andromeda galaxy) and M33 (Triangulum galaxy).