A Grand Pair |
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Arguable one of the most beautifl spiral galaxies in the sky, M81 (left)
represents the "Grand Design" spiral galaxies. Such grand design spirals
show long and well-formed spiral arms. Accompanying M81 on its journey
through space is a very different sort of galaxy, M82 (right). these two
galaxies form an interactin gpair - several times in the not-too-distant past
(the last being about 100 million years ago) these galaxies passed close to
one another. For M82 the last pass produced a dramatic increase in the rate
at which stars form, a "starburst," which has caused rapid winds of gas and
dust to pur from the center of this galaxy. its peculiar experience has led
some to call it an "exploding" galaxy.
The pair is located just above the bowl of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major), faintly visible through binoculars on a dark and moonless night. they are about 12 million light-years from Earth. | |