M95

M95 is about 33 million light years distant in the constellation Leo. It appears almost face on and angular measurements imply a transverse diameter of 70 000 light years. The spiral arms are well defined and contain many blue stars.  Near the centre of the galaxy you can see a bright blue ring which is a region of extreme star formation.  The structure of the inner dust lanes which surround the blue ring are a bit of mystery since the details of their formation are unclear.   

This LRGB image was taken with my Esprit 150 and represents about 10 hours integration time.