Messier 109 (also known as NGC 3992) is a barred spiral galaxy. It's one of the farthest Messier objects, measuring between 60 and slightly over 100 million light-years away. More than half of all spiral galaxies are barred, including our own Milky Way.

Also appeared on “Starship Asterisk,” the main discussion venue for the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)  August 10, 2013.

Technical Information       

Date:                       June, 2010

Location:                 Green Valley, Arizona

Telescope:              Takahashi TOA 130F

Camera:                  SBIG ST-2000XM

Filters:                     Astrodon Gen 1

Mount:                     AstroPhysics 1200

Exposure:                LRGB = 390:100:100:100 minutes, all unbinned

Software:                 Acquisition: Maxim DL 5, TheSky6

                                Processing: CCDStack, PhotoShop CS3 with various plugins