Spiral galaxy M 95 (NGC 3351) in Leo

The bright spiral galaxy Messier 95 (NGC 3351) in Leo, shown from a red-light CCD exposure with an RCA CCD at the 1.1-meter Hall telescope of Lowell Observatory. North is at the top and east to the left, for direct comparison with a chart or eyepiece view.
This display uses a logarithmic intensity transformation to preserve information across a wide dynamic range. Even so, the GIF file doesn't adequately show the bright ring of star-forming regions close around the nucleus, and the field doesn't quite encompass the ring-like closure of the outer spiral arms.
The field is 3.6 by 6.0 arcminutes, which doesn't cover the whole galaxy (the bigger TI CCDs had gone to Australia at the time, to support observations of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact).

The image was obtained in April 1994 by Bill Keel and Anatoly Zasov.