Messier 81 (Bode's Galaxy)

galaxies · space · spiral

A true spiral beauty. Messier 81 is a grand design spiral galaxy, which means it has clear, elegant spiral arms that wind around its center like a pinwheel. It's one of the most perfect examples of a spiral galaxy we can see from Earth.

Named by an astronomer. Also called NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy, it was discovered in 1774 by Johann Elert Bode, a German astronomer. It earned his name because he was the first to document it for astronomy.

Truly enormous. Messier 81 stretches about 96,000 light-years across, which is almost as wide as our own Milky Way. To put that in perspective, light from one edge would take 96,000 years to reach the other edge.

Very far away. This galaxy sits about 12 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. The light we see from it today left that galaxy when dinosaurs still roamed our planet.