Dale — Among Stars

Astrophotography · Edinburgh, Scotland

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galaxy · M94

Croc's Eye Galaxy

23 Apr 2026 Edinburgh 10m integration 16,000,000 light-years
Croc's Eye Galaxy (M94) — astrophotography from Edinburgh

M94 in Canes Venatici is a spiral galaxy about 16 million light-years away, distinguished by an unusually bright and compact core surrounded by a ring of intense star formation — the source of its distinctive bull’s-eye or crocodile-eye appearance. This starburst ring is thought to be driven by a density wave resonance in the disc rather than by a galaxy merger, making M94 a relatively rare example of a starburst ring galaxy with a quiet interaction history. Its outer disc extends well beyond the bright inner ring and is detectable only in deep exposures.

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