The Big Dipper was settled nicely in the shallow northeastern sky on May 18, 2018 just before midnight. I used this opportunity to locate M81 and
M82.
M81 is a large spiral galaxy that is almost 12 million light years away. It is also known as 'Bode's Galaxy' as it was discovered by Johann Bode in 1774. Messier rediscovered the galaxy several years later and it was added to his catalogue. It's apparent magnitude is around 6.94 and typically out of sight to naked eye observers. There have been credible naked eye sightings from extremely dark, high altitude locations. I will try with binoculars from my suburban backyard but I feel pessimistic about my odds.
M81 is situated in a line from γ Ursae Majoris (Phecda) to α Ursae Majoris (Dubhe). The map below shows how conveniently placed it is for visual observers.
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| M81/82 Map |
I used the two guide stars to approximately line up the red dot finder with the region of space that contained the galaxies. At first I was a little low and ended up searching below M81 and M82. I then moved the telescope up about one 1° field of view and a blurry light appeared in the 25mm eyepiece. I realized that I had found M81. It was a beautiful sight even if it just appeared as a fuzzy patch. The thrill is to find the object and not the current generation's disappointment of non-Hubble views.
The following evening I used my 4" refractor to take an image of this region. As with M3, I hope to get out to a dark site to improve the contrast of the photograph.
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| M81 |
Besides the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) this is probably one of the first galaxies I spent time observing. Galaxies are notoriously difficult to view under city lights due to the abundance of light pollution.
The observation record for M81 is shown below.
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| M81 Observation Record |
If you are ever out with binoculars try to find this target, you'll be well rewarded!
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