Bode’s Galaxy is a grand design spiral galaxy and is one of the brightest galaxies as seen from Earth, at mag. 6.94. It’s also quite large at 27′ by 14′. The Cigar Galaxy is a starburst galaxy, meaning it’s undergoing intense star formation. It’s believed this high level of activity is due to interactions with neighboring M81. It’s a bit dimmer than M81, at mag. 8.4 and also smaller at 11′ by 3′. Both galaxies are located in Ursa Major, and both are about 12 million light-years from Earth. Between the two is the Integrated Flux Nebula, an extremely faint, high galactic longitude collection of dust, H2, CO and other compounds. The nebula is illuminated by the integrated flux of all the stars in the Milky Way, as opposed to reflection nebulae which are illuminated by one or more stars in a cluster.
JML Astrophotos 