This beautiful image from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope shows two prominent galaxies in the constellation Ursa Major: Messier 81 (bottom left) and Messier 82 (top right). M81 is a typical spiral galaxy, with a central bulge of older, yellow stars, and several arms with younger blue stars. Scientists believe that the upper galaxy, M82, once interacted with M81, causing material to be ripped from both galaxies. One visible result is the small satellite galaxy just above M81. Our Milky Way has several prominent satellite galaxies of its own. Most notable are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, most often visible from the Southern Hemisphere.

Image Credit: J-C Cuillandre / CFHT

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