Galaxies can oribt other galaxies, as in the case of M82 which orbits it nearby neighbor galaxy M81 once every several hundred million years.  Whereas M82 (not shown) is "face-on" for Earth observers, M81 is "edge-on."  This edge view causes its bright central region to be obscured by clouds of gas and dust.

M82, in color, showing a reddish region undergoing a burst of star-formation to the right of center.  Image dimensions are 27 x 18 'arc.  North is up.  [Meade LX200 10-inch SCT, TT CFW, SBIG ST-8E CCD, LRGB exposure times of 180, 60, 60 and 180 seconds; 2002.04.20/21, Santa Barbara, CA residence]

Median combine of 44 1-minute exposures, FOV = 16x11 'arc. FWHM ~3.0 "arc. Avg of two images: digital development 1% cutoff (i.e., D1), ShSh (i.e., sharpen twice) & D15, D3. [Meade 14-inch LX200GPS; Hereford, AZ, 2008.003.07]

This site opened:  May 27, 2002.  Last Update:  March 09, 2008