This is a prime example of a "barred spiral" galaxy, with the
arms of the galaxy filled with younger blue stars, and the core
dominated by a bar of older yellowish stars. Our own Milky Way
galaxy is also a barred spiral, and M 109, like the
Milky Way, is about 100,000 light years in diameter. Thus, M 109
gives us a good idea of what our galaxy would look like from
the outside. M 109 is located near the bottom corner of the Big
Dipper's bowl, and is about 55 million light years away.

Image data:
Camera: SBIG STL-11000
Exposure: 10 hours (Luminance = 10 minutes x 36; RGB = 10 minutes x 8 for each color)
Telescope: Hyperion 12.5"