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.
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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.
