M81 is a large spiral galaxy about 11 million light years away in Ursa Major.  In the past, M81 was gravitationally associated with its nearby neighbor, M82, the Cigar Galaxy.  M81, being much more massive, had much more influence on M82 but did not come away unscathed from the encounter.  As a result of the near collision, M81 has well pronounced spiral arms containing many star forming H2 regions (seen as red spots in the arms) and an almost linear lane of dust near the core (on the right side of the core in this image).

Visually M81 is an easy find at magnitude 6.8 and its compact and bright core shows up well in even small instruments.  In larger telescopes, the dust lanes and spiral arms become evident.  In wider field views, M81 and M82 are easily observed as a beautiful pair and make a fine photographic target as well.  Here is a wider field view of these galaxies.

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