AZSTARMAN
M81 (Bode's Galaxy)
Sky and Telescope Photo Gallery Editor's Choice 4/1/13
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), April 16, 2013
Small Size Top(200K) Full Size Top(4M) Small Size Bottom(250K) Full Size Bottom(6M)
I posted two versions of this object. The top image highlights the galaxy. If you look very closely at the top image (near the top of the galaxy to the right and left) you will see very faint wisps of clouds in the backgound. This is called the Integrated Flux Nebula (IFN), and is a vast cloud of dust that permiates the space between us and the galaxy. It is composed of dust particles, hydrogen and carbon monoxide and other elements. The bottom image has been reprocessed to show this IFN. It is still faint, but much more noticeable in the bottom image.