Bode's Galaxy
Where is the Bode's Galaxy?
Look northeast, about 54° up at 05:17 in Ursa Major.
- Rises
- Always up
- Highest
- 09:58
- Sets
- Never
- Best after dark
- 05:17 · 54°
Can I see the Bode's Galaxy tonight?
From London tonight, the Bode's Galaxy is above the horizon all night. It’s highest just before dawn, around 05:17, in the northeast at 54°.
At magnitude 6.9, with its light spread out, it needs binoculars and a dark sky.
This is position and timing only: clouds, haze and light pollution aren’t included.
What does the Bode's Galaxy look like?
Eyes
Not visible except under exceptionally dark skies, for very experienced observers.
Binoculars
Under dark skies, a small oval smudge, with M82 nearby as a faint streak.
Telescope
A bright core inside a faint oval glow. Larger telescopes and dark skies show hints of spiral arms. Light pollution hides much of the outer glow.
About the Bode's Galaxy
Bode’s Galaxy, M81, is a bright spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away. It lies close to the Cigar Galaxy, M82, and both fit in the same low-power telescope field.
M81’s gravity has disturbed M82 during a close encounter, which helped trigger a burst of star formation there.
Under dark skies, M81 is one of the brightest galaxies in the sky and a classic first galaxy for binocular and telescope owners.
M81 was discovered by Johann Bode in 1774. It is about 90,000 light-years across, with a supermassive black hole at its center of tens of millions of times the Sun’s mass.
In 1993, a supernova in M81 reached about magnitude 10 and was followed by amateurs worldwide. Radio images reveal streams of hydrogen gas connecting M81 with M82 and NGC 3077, signs of their past encounters.
The pair is above the horizon all year from mid-northern latitudes and highest on spring evenings.
Nearby in the sky
Questions
Can I see M81 from the suburbs?
Sources: SkyMate; OpenNGC (CC BY-SA 4.0); star chart: Wikidata (CC0). Positions computed for your place and time with astronomy-engine. Data & Licences