Bode’s Galaxy (M81)

Bode’s Galaxy (M81) — galaxy, shown live in Cosmoscope, a real-time 3D map of the universe.

A textbook spiral whose tidy arms were combed into shape by a close pass with its starburst neighbour M82 — the two still tug at each other across a bridge of hydrogen.

Type
Grand-design spiral (SA(s)ab)
Distance
11.8 million light-years
Group
Centre of the M81 Group
Note
Locked in a gravitational dance with M82

Seeing Bode’s Galaxy (M81) in real time

Bode’s Galaxy (M81) is placed at its true position on the sky and at its real measured distance, not as a flat backdrop. Fly out from the Sun in the live 3D view and watch it change from a point of light into structure as you approach, with the scale bar showing just how far out you have travelled.

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