NGC 2976 is one of the smaller member
galaxies of the M81 group, located about 1deg 20' southwest of
M81. It is a peculiar spiral galaxy of type Scp, peculiar
because of the chaotic inner structure with many dark lanes and
stellar condensations in its disk - sometimes also as Sdp
because its spiral arms are difficult to be traced. The bright
inner part of this disk appears to have a defined edge. These
distortions are results from the gravitational interactions with
its neighbors, in particular M81.
