Discovered by the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode in 1774, M81 is one of the brightest galaxies in the night sky.
It is located 11.6 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major and has an apparent magnitude of 6.9.
Through a pair of binoculars, the galaxy appears as a faint patch of light in the same field of view as M82.
A small telescope will resolve M81’s core.
The galaxy is best observed during April.