A starburst galaxy close to M81, appearing as a streak of light. Its starburst nature and details require a telescope.
Galaxy in Ursa Major. Magnitude 8.4.
Can you see it from Guyana?
From Georgetown (6.8° N) it climbs to 27° above the northern horizon at its highest; from Lethem (3.4° N), to 24° above the northern horizon. It is highest at midnight on the night of 17 Feb, in the middle of its season. The page works out tonight's rise, highest point and set for both towns in Guyana time (UTC-4), and where the Moon is.
What you'll see
Your eyes: Not visible to the eye.
10x50 binoculars: A faint smudge from a dark site.
A small telescope (80 to 100 mm): A bright streak with a dark band across it, next to M81 in the same low-power field.
A camera: Tiny on camera: it needs 2,000 mm or more of focal length on a tracking mount.
How big, how bright, how far
Size on the sky: 11′ × 5′, 35% of the Moon's width (the Moon is about 31′ wide).
Brightness: magnitude 8.4. Fainter than the faintest stars in Georgetown (4.3) and Lethem (6.0): binoculars or a telescope.
Distance: 12 million light-years. The light reaching your eye left it about 12 million years ago.
What it is made of
Type
Starburst Galaxy
Distance
Approx. 11.5 million Lightyears
True size
Approx. 37,000 Lightyears diameter
Central Starburst Region: Massive stellar clusters, supernova-driven winds
Galactic Outflows: Large-scale winds visible in H-alpha