M82 (Cigar Galaxy)

Object Type: Galaxy
Scope: Orion 10" Newtonian; Exposure 85 minutes.

Messier 82 (NGC 3034), the Cigar Galaxy, is the prototype starburst galaxy, about 12 million light-years away in Ursa Major. Seen nearly edge-on, its cigar shape comes from a powerful "superwind" of gas and dust driven out of its core by furious star formation, running about ten times faster than in the Milky Way. Hubble revealed some 197 young massive star clusters packed into the starburst core. In January 2014 the galaxy hosted SN 2014J, a Type Ia supernova and the closest of its kind seen in 42 years (still the closest as of 2023). In 2024 the James Webb Space Telescope saw through M82's heavy dust in the infrared, mapping complex organic molecules (PAHs) streaming thousands of light-years along the superwind.