Messier 81 - Bode's Galaxy

Messier 81, also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy, is a grand design spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major. It has a diameter of 96,000 light-years. Messier 81 is estimated to contain over 250 billion stars.

Because of its relative proximity to the Milky Way galaxy, large size, and active galactic nucleus (which harbors supermassive black hole that has 70 million times the mass of our Sun) Messier 81 has been studied extensively by professional astronomers. The galaxy's large size and relatively high brightness also makes it a popular target for amateur astronomers.

Messier 81, with Messier 82, was discovered by Johann Elert Bode in 1774. In 1779, Pierre Méchain independently rediscovered both objects and reported them to Charles Messier, who added them to his catalog.

Equipment:
OTA: SVBONY SV503 70ED 70mm refractor (f/6)
Filter: SVBONY CLS City Light Suppression Filter
Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Pro Cooled Color Camera. (20.1 mp)
Mount: Explore Scientific EX02GT with PMC-8
300x30s (2.5 hours) stacked in SharpCap 4.1 with darks & flats
Processed with GraXpert, Topaz DeNoise AI, and Siril.