Spiral galaxy NGC 2841, 46 million
light-years distant, can be found in the northern constellation
of Ursa Major. NGC 2841 has a diameter of over 150,000
light-years, even larger than our own Milky Way Galaxy. The
galaxy's dust lanes and turbulent star-forming regions are found
along the spiral arms, but X-ray images suggest that resulting
winds and stellar explosions create plumes of hot gas extending
into a halo around NGC 2841. The prominent stars with a spiky
appearance in the picture are close foreground objects within
the Milky Way and not associated with NGC 2841.
