M-82 the Cigar Galaxy
The name fits! Forming a conspicuous pair with its neighbor M-81, they are perhaps the showpiece galaxies of the northern heavens. M-82 is an irregular galaxy. It has probably undergone a dramatic gravitational interaction with M-81 in recent times (galactically speaking).
This image is a composite of two 120 minute exposures on hypered Kodak PJ 400. They were made with the 12.5" Newt using a Nikon TC14 teleconverter; effective focal length is 3100mm at f/10.