Hubble Picture of the Day: Spiral Galaxy M106

Messier 106, located a little over 20 million light-years away, is one of the brightest and closest spiral galaxies to our own. Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), and R. Gendler (for the Hubble Heritage Team). Acknowledgment: J. GaBany

This Hubble image of the day shows nearby spiral galaxy Messier 106.

This image combines Hubble’s observations of Messier 106 with additional information captured by amateur astronomers Robert Gendler and Jay GaBany. Gendler combined Hubble data with his own observations to produce this stunning color image.

Located a little over 20 million light-years away, practically a neighbor by cosmic standards, Messier 106 is one of the brightest and nearest spiral galaxies to our own.