Barred spiral galaxy M95 is about 75,000 light-years across,
comparable in size to our own Milky Way and one of the larger
galaxies of the In fact, it is part of a not quite so famous
trio of Leo galaxies with neighbors M96 and M105, about 38
million light-years distant. In this sharp and colorful cosmic
portrait, a bright, compact ring of star formation surrounds the
Surrounding the prominent yellowish bar are tightly wound spiral
arms traced by dust lanes, young blue star clusters, and
telltale pinkish star forming regions. As a bonus, follow along
the spiral arm unwinding down and to the right and you'll soon
get to M95's latest supernova SN 2012aw, discovered on March 16
and now identified as the explosion of a A good target for small
telescopes, the supernova stands out in this video feature
(vimeo) comparing the recent image with a deep image of M95
without supernova taken in 2009.