Cigar Galaxy
A galaxy seen edge on, making new stars at a furious rate since a close pass by its neighbour, Bode’s Galaxy.
Tonight from
Rise, highest point and set are worked out on your device for the place above.
What it is
- Kind of object
- Galaxy
- Distance
- 11.5 million light years
- Brightness
- Magnitude 8.4, a sight for a small telescope
- Size in the sky
- About a third of the width of the full Moon
- Constellation
- Ursa Major
- Catalogue
- M 82, NGC 3034
Figures from OpenNGC, CC BY-SA 4.0; the SEDS Messier catalogue, via Wikipedia’s table of Messier objects, CC BY-SA 4.0. All sources
Near it in the sky
- Bode’s GalaxyA galaxy in Ursa Major, right beside it, a finger’s width away.
- DubheA bright star in Ursa Major, about a fist away.
- PolarisA yellow-white supergiant in Ursa Minor, about a hand span away.
- AliothA white star in Ursa Major, about a hand span away.
- MizarA white main-sequence star in Ursa Major, about a hand span away.