Subaru Gallery

12 million light-years

M82 is the 82nd object in Charles Messier's 1784 catalogue of faint nebulae. It is located approximately 12 million light-years from the Earth and is classified as an irregular galaxy because of its disordered shape. The bluish band seen running from the upper-left to the lower-right of the image is due to light from stars in the M82 galaxy. The red filamentary features extending perpendicular to the galaxy are due to ionized hydrogen gas emitting its characteristic red light (the so-called "H alpha" line) at a wavelength of 6563 Angstroms. The filaments extend for over 10,000 light years in each direction from the center of the galaxy. (Credit: NAOJ)