Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Bode's Galaxy

Encyclopedia : B : BO : BOD : Bode's Galaxy


Bode's Galaxy
Galaxy List of galaxies
|- ! style="text-align:left;" | Apparent magnitude (V) | +6.93 |- ! style="text-align:left;" | Apparent dimensions (V) | 26' × 14' |- ! style="text-align:left;" | Constellation | Ursa Major |- ! colspan="2" style="background-color: #30D5C8; text-align: center;" | Physical characteristics |- ! style="text-align:left;" | Radius | 36,000 ly |- ! style="text-align:left;" | Absolute magnitude (V) | -20.9 |- ! style="text-align:left;" | Notable features | } |- ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Other designations |- | colspan="2" | |}

Bode's Galaxy (also known as M81 or NGC 3031) is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It was first discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1774 and is named in his honour. In 1993, a supernova (SN 1993J) of was observed in Bode's Galaxy.

Bode's Galaxy is believed to contain approximately 250 billion stars, making it slightly smaller than our own Milky Way Galaxy. It is one of the most striking examples of a grand design spiral galaxy, with near perfect arms spiraling into the very center.

Bode's Galaxy and its companion galaxy, the Cigar Galaxy or M82, are the most prominent members of the M81 group of galaxies. They are easily visible in the same field of view of most telescopes.

It has an apparent magnitude of 6.93, making it one of the brightest known galaxies. Under exceptional viewing conditions and truly dark skies in a remote location far from light pollution, it can be seen with the naked eye.

Bode's Galaxy in multiwavelength by the Spitzer Space Telescope
Enlarge
Bode's Galaxy in multiwavelength by the Spitzer Space Telescope

Other resources

See also


External links


 


From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: