A nearby spiral galaxy (2.4 million light years) about 1/3rd the size of our own galaxy. Note the pinkish/red areas where new star formation is underway. On the upper right we see the bright HII region NGC604 – so large it could hold 40 of the Orion Nebulas shown below.

12 1/2″ Ritchey-Chretien Telescope with an ST10XE/CFW8F/6 LRGB (32/7minBW, 5/5min 2×2 bin RGB. Scaled on MaximDL at R 1.0, G1.0, B1.6).