Another superb example of a “grand design” spiral. Here we can clearly see the anatomy of a spiral galaxy with its great blue stretches in the outer arms where young blue/white stars dominate, the reddish H II regions along the central sections of the arms, and the old yellow/white stars packed tightly in the core. Note the outer arm on the bottom left side has been sprung away from the main body due to the nearby passage of another galaxy.

12 1/2″ Ritchey-Chretien Telescope with an ST11000/Astrodon filters,F/6 LRGB (45x7minBW, 11x5minR,G,Bbinned 2×2,