An international society of amateur and professional
astronomers specialising in the observation of double
stars and 'deep sky' objects founded in 1967.
Membership is open to anyone who shares the interests
of the Society.
These are the observations available for M82. If
you have any of your own that you'd like to submit we'd love to put
them on the website.
Two Galaxies: Messier 82 and Sextans A
I have two Galaxy images to share from recent clear evenings. They probably represent two extremes of ease of imaging.
Messier 82 in Ursa Major
The first is Messier 82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy, which is a very popular target. M82 is 12 million light-years away in Ursa
Major, currently high overhead and quite bright. It is relatively straightforward to capture a visible light image, but perhaps more
challenging is to capture some of the outburst of ionised hydrogen gas from the galaxy's core; I used an Antlia dual-band filter
to do this.
This image of the galaxy Messier 82 in Ursa Major is by David Davies and taken from Cambridge in the UK. To see more of David's work please visit his Flickr Photostream.
Image Details
Data: 94 x 120s RGB, 70 x 300s Ha/OIII between 24–28 March 2025.
Camera: ASI 071 MC Pro camera, Antlia HaOIII filter
Mount: Skywatcher EQ8
Sextans A in Sextans
The second image is of Sextans A. Sextans A is a dwarf, irregular galaxy that is relatively small and faint in the constellation of
Sextans. Despite its relative proximity to the Milky Way at 4.3 million light-years, its small size makes it a tricky target. Its other claim to fame is that, from our perspective, it appears to be square.
This image of the dwarf galaxy Sextans A in Sextans is by David Davies and taken from Cambridge in the UK.
The low elevation of Sextans A limits imaging time and attenuates the light we see from UK latitudes. Imaging this target was a test of
the capabilities of the ASI 071 camera and my telescope.
