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M81 and M82 are perhaps the most famous pair of galaxies in the sky and
both can be seen in the same low magnification field of view.
Both are spiral galaxies but M81 is nearly face on, while M82 is edge on.
The contrast offered by these two galaxies is one of the visual delights of the night sky.
M81 and M82 are separated by only 150,000 light years.
Tens of millions of years ago,
the larger (and ten times as massive) M81 passed close by its smaller neighbor,
inducing a round of starburst formation in M82.
It also led to the birth of over 100 globular clusters, and disrupted the appearance of M82,
so much that it is sometimes classed as an irregular galaxy instead of a spiral galaxy.
While quite faint in visible light, M82 is the brightest galaxy in the sky in the infrared region.
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