Separation M81 and M82 galaxies
The galaxies M81 (Bode’s Galaxy) and M82 (the Cigar Galaxy) are very close together in astronomical terms. Here’s how close:
đź” Angular Separation (as seen from Earth):
- ~0.62 degrees apart (about 37 arcminutes)
- That’s slightly more than the full Moon’s width in the sky (~30 arcminutes).
- You can easily see both in the same field of view through binoculars or a low-power telescope eyepiece.
đź“Ź Physical (Spatial) Separation:
- They are roughly 300,000 to 400,000 light-years apart from each other in space.
- For comparison, that’s about 3 to 4 times the diameter of the Milky Way.
🧲 Gravitational Relationship:
- They are gravitationally interacting and part of the M81 Group, a small galaxy cluster about 12 million light-years away.
- M82 is being distorted by tidal forces from M81, which is why M82 shows intense starburst activity.