Messier 81, M81 for short, or as it is also called, Bode's Galaxy, is a bright, swirling spiral galaxy located in the constellation Ursa Major just up and to the right of the top of the dipper in the Big Dipper asterism. This image captured at Grand Mesa Observatory highlights the interesting and delicate structure of its spiral arms. First discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1774, M81's relative brightness (apparent magnitude 6.94) and closeness (11.8 million light-years distant) makes it one of the most studied and photographed galaxies in the night sky. It contains an active galactic nucleus powered by a supermassive black hole at its center and was host to one of the brightest supernovae of the 20th century, SN 1993J. Also in this image, the blue blob above M81 is a satellite galaxy gravitationally locked to M81 called Holmberg IX, which is thought to have formed within the last 200 million years, making it the youngest nearby galaxy. M81 wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_81 M81 in 60 seconds from NASA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39Sw0axqIBM Holmberg IX: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmberg_IX#cite_note-sabbi-2 Technical Info: Grand Mesa Observatory System https://grandmesaobservatory.com/equipment/ LUM 25x 300sec 1x1 RGB 25x 300sec 1x1 (4h10min total) Telescope: AGO 12.5” Astrograph/Newtonian Camera: QHY163M Monochrome CMOS Filters: Optolong LRGB Guiding: OAG Mount: Paramount ME Processing/Stacking: PixInsight, PhotoshopCC, Registar, Straton Location: Grand Mesa Observatory, Prudy Mesa, CO