Messier 94 - The Cat’s Eye Galaxy

Messier 94 is the strangest galaxy I have photographed so far. Its structure is unlike most galaxies, having layered features. At the center lies a blue-red starburst ring where new stars are actively being formed. Surrounding this is a yellowish ring made up of older stars, marking a region with much less star formation. And as if that were not enough, the entire system is wrapped in a faint, extended halo of stars and gas a feature which I was really happy to see in my image.

Messier 94 is located about 16 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. To capture this image, I gathered a total of 16.9 hours of exposure time over the course of seven clear nights. This long integration allowed me to reveal both the bright inner rings colours and the faint outer halo that gives this galaxy its truly unique appearance.