RA: 09h 55m 52s Dec: 69° 40' 47, Mag: 8.6 , Size: 11.2', Distance: ~12 million ly

   Messier 82, commonly called the Cigar Galaxy, is located in the constellation Ursa Major approximately 12 million light-years away. The galaxy is five times brighter than our Milky Way and produces new stars at a rate 10 times faster than our own galaxy which is the reason it is referred to as a starburst galaxy. First discovered in 1774 by Johann Bode and describe as a nebulas patch near galaxy M81, it was later added by Charles Messier to his catalog in 1781. The extended red filaments seen are hot hydrogen gasses extending thousand of lights years in size are driven by super winds believed caused by a combination of supernova explosions and rapid star forming regions aroud the center of the galaxy. What makes M82 more unique is much of the galaxy appears to be star forming. The trigger for this is believed to be a strong gravitational interaction and eventual merger with its nearby larger galaxy companion, Messier 81.