M82 (Cigar Galaxy) · Seestar S30 Pro · 2026-04-24

Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major, located about 12 million light-years away and gravitationally paired with the larger spiral M81, from which it lies only about 130,000-150,000 light-years distant. A close gravitational encounter between the two galaxies millions of years ago distorted M82's disk and triggered an intense, ongoing burst of star formation, giving the galaxy its classification as a starburst galaxy. This furious star formation drives a galactic superwind of ionized gas that streams outward above and below the galaxy's disk, visible in Hα as reddish filamentary plumes extending well beyond the compact ~40,000-light-year stellar disk. Combining broadband color data with Hα is the standard approach for capturing both M82's disk and its distinctive superwind.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Image Integration
2. Fast Integration
3. Drizzle Integration (x2)
4. Background Neutralization
5. Automatic Background Extraction
6. Dynamic Background Extraction
7. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
8. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise) (x2)
9. Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
10. Curves Transformation (x2)
11. Multiscale Linear Transform
12. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)

Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major, located about 12 million light-years away and gravitationally paired with the larger spiral M81, from which it lies only about 130,000-150,000 light-years distant. A close gravitational encounter between the two galaxies millions of years ago distorted M82's disk and triggered an intense, ongoing burst of star formation, giving the galaxy its classification as a starburst galaxy. This furious star formation drives a galactic superwind of ionized gas that streams outward above and below the galaxy's disk, visible in Hα as reddish filamentary plumes extending well beyond the compact ~40,000-light-year stellar disk. Combining broadband color data with Hα is the standard approach for capturing both M82's disk and its distinctive superwind.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82]

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Image Integration
2. Fast Integration
3. Drizzle Integration (x2)
4. Background Neutralization
5. Automatic Background Extraction
6. Dynamic Background Extraction
7. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
8. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise) (x2)
9. Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
10. Curves Transformation (x2)
11. Multiscale Linear Transform
12. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)

Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major, located about 12 million light-years away and gravitationally paired with the larger spiral M81, from which it lies only about 130,000-150,000 light-years distant. A close gravitational encounter between the two galaxies millions of years ago distorted M82's disk and triggered an intense, ongoing burst of star formation, giving the galaxy its classification as a starburst galaxy. This furious star formation drives a galactic superwind of ionized gas that streams outward above and below the galaxy's disk, visible in Hα as reddish filamentary plumes extending well beyond the compact ~40,000-light-year stellar disk. Combining broadband color data with Hα is the standard approach for capturing both M82's disk and its distinctive superwind.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Drizzle Integration (x2)
2. Channel Combination (x2)
3. Background Neutralization
4. Automatic Background Extraction
5. Dynamic Background Extraction
6. Dynamic Crop
7. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
8. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
9. Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
10. Curves Transformation (x2)
11. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)

Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major, located about 12 million light-years away and gravitationally paired with the larger spiral M81, from which it lies only about 130,000-150,000 light-years distant. A close gravitational encounter between the two galaxies millions of years ago distorted M82's disk and triggered an intense, ongoing burst of star formation, giving the galaxy its classification as a starburst galaxy. This furious star formation drives a galactic superwind of ionized gas that streams outward above and below the galaxy's disk, visible in Hα as reddish filamentary plumes extending well beyond the compact ~40,000-light-year stellar disk. Combining broadband color data with Hα is the standard approach for capturing both M82's disk and its distinctive superwind.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Drizzle Integration (x2)
2. Channel Combination (x2)
3. Background Neutralization
4. Automatic Background Extraction
5. Dynamic Background Extraction
6. Dynamic Crop
7. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
8. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
9. StarXTerminator (star removal)
10. Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch (x9)
11. PixelMath
12. Curves Transformation (x2)

Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major, located about 12 million light-years away and gravitationally paired with the larger spiral M81, from which it lies only about 130,000-150,000 light-years distant. A close gravitational encounter between the two galaxies millions of years ago distorted M82's disk and triggered an intense, ongoing burst of star formation, giving the galaxy its classification as a starburst galaxy. This furious star formation drives a galactic superwind of ionized gas that streams outward above and below the galaxy's disk, visible in Hα as reddish filamentary plumes extending well beyond the compact ~40,000-light-year stellar disk. Combining broadband color data with Hα is the standard approach for capturing both M82's disk and its distinctive superwind.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Drizzle Integration (x2)
2. Channel Combination (x2)
3. Background Neutralization
4. Automatic Background Extraction
5. Dynamic Background Extraction
6. Dynamic Crop
7. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
8. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
9. Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
10. Curves Transformation
11. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)

Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major, located about 12 million light-years away and gravitationally paired with the larger spiral M81, from which it lies only about 130,000-150,000 light-years distant. A close gravitational encounter between the two galaxies millions of years ago distorted M82's disk and triggered an intense, ongoing burst of star formation, giving the galaxy its classification as a starburst galaxy. This furious star formation drives a galactic superwind of ionized gas that streams outward above and below the galaxy's disk, visible in Hα as reddish filamentary plumes extending well beyond the compact ~40,000-light-year stellar disk. Combining broadband color data with Hα is the standard approach for capturing both M82's disk and its distinctive superwind.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Drizzle Integration (x2)
2. Channel Combination (x2)
3. Background Neutralization
4. Automatic Background Extraction
5. Dynamic Background Extraction
6. Dynamic Crop
7. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
8. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
9. Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
10. Curves Transformation
11. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)

Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major, located about 12 million light-years away and gravitationally paired with the larger spiral M81, from which it lies only about 130,000-150,000 light-years distant. A close gravitational encounter between the two galaxies millions of years ago distorted M82's disk and triggered an intense, ongoing burst of star formation, giving the galaxy its classification as a starburst galaxy. This furious star formation drives a galactic superwind of ionized gas that streams outward above and below the galaxy's disk, visible in Hα as reddish filamentary plumes extending well beyond the compact ~40,000-light-year stellar disk. Combining broadband color data with Hα is the standard approach for capturing both M82's disk and its distinctive superwind.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Image Integration (x3)
2. Channel Combination
3. Background Neutralization
4. Automatic Background Extraction
5. Dynamic Background Extraction
6. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
7. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
8. Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
9. Multiscale Median Transform
10. Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch
11. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
12. Curves Transformation

Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major, located about 12 million light-years away and gravitationally paired with the larger spiral M81, from which it lies only about 130,000-150,000 light-years distant. A close gravitational encounter between the two galaxies millions of years ago distorted M82's disk and triggered an intense, ongoing burst of star formation, giving the galaxy its classification as a starburst galaxy. This furious star formation drives a galactic superwind of ionized gas that streams outward above and below the galaxy's disk, visible in Hα as reddish filamentary plumes extending well beyond the compact ~40,000-light-year stellar disk. Combining broadband color data with Hα is the standard approach for capturing both M82's disk and its distinctive superwind.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Image Integration (x3)
2. Channel Combination
3. Background Neutralization
4. Automatic Background Extraction
5. Dynamic Background Extraction
6. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
7. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
8. Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
9. Multiscale Median Transform
10. Curves Transformation

Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major, located about 12 million light-years away and gravitationally paired with the larger spiral M81, from which it lies only about 130,000-150,000 light-years distant. A close gravitational encounter between the two galaxies millions of years ago distorted M82's disk and triggered an intense, ongoing burst of star formation, giving the galaxy its classification as a starburst galaxy. This furious star formation drives a galactic superwind of ionized gas that streams outward above and below the galaxy's disk, visible in Hα as reddish filamentary plumes extending well beyond the compact ~40,000-light-year stellar disk. Combining broadband color data with Hα is the standard approach for capturing both M82's disk and its distinctive superwind.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Image Integration (x3)
2. Channel Combination
3. Background Neutralization
4. Automatic Background Extraction
5. Dynamic Background Extraction
6. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
7. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
8. Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
9. Multiscale Median Transform
10. Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch
11. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
12. Curves Transformation

Messier 82, the Cigar Galaxy, is an edge-on starburst galaxy in Ursa Major, located about 12 million light-years away and gravitationally paired with the larger spiral M81, from which it lies only about 130,000-150,000 light-years distant. A close gravitational encounter between the two galaxies millions of years ago distorted M82's disk and triggered an intense, ongoing burst of star formation, giving the galaxy its classification as a starburst galaxy. This furious star formation drives a galactic superwind of ionized gas that streams outward above and below the galaxy's disk, visible in Hα as reddish filamentary plumes extending well beyond the compact ~40,000-light-year stellar disk. Combining broadband color data with Hα is the standard approach for capturing both M82's disk and its distinctive superwind.

[Source: Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82]

Annotated Image

The annotated version is shown above - click it to zoom. Open the annotated image at full resolution.

Sky Location

The chart above shows where this image sits on the night sky. The yellow outline is its field of view, with the picture itself drawn at its true orientation; north is up and east is left. Click the chart to zoom in, and use "open full resolution" for the full-size chart.

Image Details

PixInsight Processing

1. Image Integration (x3)
2. Channel Combination
3. Background Neutralization
4. Automatic Background Extraction
5. Dynamic Background Extraction
6. Spectrophotometric Color Calibration
7. NoiseXTerminator (AI denoise)
8. Multiscale Adaptive Stretch
9. Multiscale Median Transform
10. Generalized Hyperbolic Stretch
11. BlurXTerminator (AI deconvolution)
12. Curves Transformation