Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Ursa Major (UMa)  ·  Contains:  NGC 2841
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NGC 2841, Gary Imm
NGC 2841, Gary Imm

NGC 2841

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NGC 2841, Gary Imm
NGC 2841, Gary Imm

NGC 2841

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Description

This flocculent spiral galaxy is located 50 million light years away in the constellation of Ursa Major at a declination of +51 degrees.  It is a bright magnitude 9.2 galaxy which spans 7 arc-minutes in our apparent view.  This corresponds to a diameter of 100,000 light years.

This object should be the poster child for flocculent galaxies, described as a type of spiral galaxy with fluffy discontinuous spiral arms. Approximately 30% of all spiral galaxies fit this description.  These types of galaxies are often overlooked as boring, but I find objects like this one to be fascinating. 

I especially like the 2 different views of the dark dust lanes, on the left and right side of the disk.  The near (left) side of the disk presents a clear view of the flat spiral disk of the galaxy. Both the star clusters and the dust lanes are distinct and easily visible. But on the far (right) side, we are looking across the galaxy and the billions of stars blur and obscure the dust lanes.  

The core and inner region are bright.  In my mind, the dust and haze of the outer surrounding disk seems like it funnels the core light out to the right, perpendicular to the disk.

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