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A galactic sea

Salvo Lauricella, taken from Palazzolo Acreide, Italy

M106 is a spiral galaxy about 24 million light-years away in Canes Venatici, its disk slightly warped by a previous gravitational encounter. In this image, it lies surrounded by numerous background galaxies, including NGC 4217 (top) and NGC 4220 (left). The imager collected 3 hours 40 minutes of exposure with a 4-inch f/5.6 refractor and a one-shot color camera.