Today's Amateur Astronomy Photo of the Day:

M81 (NGC 3031), also nicknamed the Bode Galaxy, is a nearby spiral galaxy located about 12 million light years in the constellation of the Great Bear. So this galaxy and its neighbor M82 are among the closest galaxies to ours.

M81 is a large-style spiral galaxy, i.e. with well-defined spiral arms. Its diameter equals about 96,000 light-years, close but smaller than that of the Milky Way (~100,000 light-years from its lowest estimate).

M81 was discovered by German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in 1774, who also discovered M82 (NGC 3034) on the same night. These two galaxies are named after the Bode Nebula. M81 was rediscovered independently by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain in August 1780, who reported it to his friend Charles Messier. Messier observed M81 on 9 February 1781