strongMessier 81/strong taken on January 25, 2012 (also known as strongNGC 3031/strong or strongBode's Galaxy/strong) is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Because of its proximity to Earth, its large size, and its active galactic nucleus (which harbors a 70 million M☉ [8] supermassive black hole), Messier 81 is a popular galaxy to study in professional astronomy research.