Another year, another Bode’s Galaxy image
Every year I try to take a better image of M81, Bode’s Galaxy. It’s located about 12 million light-years away, which is unfathomably far but close by galactic standards.
Look closely, and you’ll see a faint splotchiness in the background. This is the Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN,) composed of gases that lie just outside of our galaxy – it’s the first time I’ve been able to pick that up! Also look for the red spots in the galaxy’s arms; these are areas of ionized Hydrogen – nebulas in another galaxy.
This is about 20 hours of exposure time, using luminance, RGB, and Hydrogen-alpha filters.
