Bode’s Nebula is not a nebula at all but is actually a beautiful spiral galaxy within the constellation Ursa Major. The galaxy was discovered in 1774 by Johann Elert Bode, a German astronomer. While it was initially described as a “nebulous patch”, it was soon found to be a galaxy. It is a close neighbor, at 12 million light years from Earth. Bode’s Nebula is estimated to have about 250 billion stars – about the same number of stars as our own Milky Way. It’s a spiral galaxy with a central bulge of stars and arms of stars, dust and gases. Bode’s Nebula is one of a group of 34 galaxies in the Messier 81 Galaxy Group. Galaxy M 82 is a nearby galaxy and is often imaged with M 81.
