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M 106 - NGC 4258         Image down sampled 0.75x - click on image for full size
Canes Venatici
Penryn, California
March 2003 / February 2009
FS-128  (ag, ST-4)
ST-10XME RGB 15  minute subs
ST-2000XM Lum 10 minute subs (2009)

A "peculiar normal spiral of type Sbp" in Canes Venatici of magnitude 8.4 (central region) and 28 million light years distant.   M106 has a very bright central region surrounded by extensive but dim spiral arms.
"In 1995, investigations with the Very Large Baseline Array radio telescope equipment gave evidence that M106 is possibly the home of a massive dark object, which could be traced to the lowest distance from the center ever possible up to now: 36 million solar masses apparently reside within a volume of about 1/24 to 1/12 light year radius (27,000 to 54,000 AU). This was then the densest matter concentration ever detected." (seds.org)  
Note the small companion galaxy to right center and galaxy NGC 4248 above right.