Galaxies

Messier 82 is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. 

M51 is located 31 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici.

When scouting for targets the unusual shapes and textures of these two galaxies drew me to them last night. Unfortunately the forecast looks like that might be my last galaxy for a while but its been great to finally get some clear skies with no moon after months of cloud.

I was drawn to the differing scales of the many galaxies in this image. The distances involved are mind boggling. NGC 4217 is an edge-on spiral galaxy which lies approximately 60 million light-years and M106 between 22 to 25 million light-years away.

M101 - The PinWheel Galaxy is located 25 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.

The Sunflower Galaxy is located roughly 27 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici.

Messier 81 is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.

The Andromeda Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth and the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way.