M106’s spiral arms are emitting lots of x-rays and radio waves (which I can’t detect) and also hydrogen-alpha (which I can, looking like small red areas). In most galaxies these features would be caused by star formation, but with M106 it’s a bit different. The galaxy’s supermassive black hole, which resides in the core, is blasting out jets of energetic material, which is interacting with the spiral arms and causing these effects.

Another fun fact is that back in 1999 astronomers used radio emissions from water vapour molecules orbiting near the core of the galaxy (called water masers) to accurately measure the galaxy’s distance.

Closeby to M106 is NGC 4248. Often galaxies look smaller in images because they’re more distant, but NGC 4248 is actually a satellite galaxy of M106, meaning they’re neighbours in space. NGC 4248 is just a few thousand light-across, making it a tiddler compared to M106.

The other major galaxy in my image is NGC 4217. Unlike NGC 4248, this galaxy is in the background, as with a distance of 60 million light-years from Earth it’s about three times further away than M106 and NGC 4248. We’re seeing this galaxy edge-on, and have a good view of a dark, dusty lane that’s cutting across its disk.