Credit & Copyright: Ken Crawford (Rancho Del Sol Observatory) Explanation: Close to the Great Bear (Ursa Major) and surrounded by the stars of the Hunting Dogs (Canes Venatici), this celestial wonder was discovered in 1781 by the metric French astronomer Pierre Mechain. Modern deep telescopic views reveal it to be an island universe -- a spiral galaxy around 30 thousand light-years across located only about 21 million light-years beyond the stars of the Milky Way.
It's been awhile since I've posted one of these, and I really like how psychedelic this one looks. Click to enlarge, via.
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