M108

barred spiral galaxy seen nearly edge-on · in Ursa Major

29.9 million light-years from Earth

A spiral seen almost edge-on, with no bulge to speak of, mottled with dust and bright star-forming clouds. On our sky it lies less than a degree from the Owl Nebula, but it is about 11,000 times farther away. Three supernovae have been seen in it, two of them since 2023.

• about 30 million light-years, uncertain by a fifth · about 76,000 light-years across
• hot gas rises about 8,500 light-years out of its disc

kind

galaxy

catalogue

M108 · NGC 3556

size

75,800 light-years across