The beautiful galaxy Messier 94 (M94) is located in the Canes Venatici constellation, just 15 million light-years from Earth (1 light-year is the distance light travels in one year, approximately 9.46 trillion kilometers). This spiral galaxy, which can also be viewed through ground-based telescopes, has a diameter of about 30,000 light-years and features spiral arms that extend to a wide disk edge. The scene captured by the Hubble Space Telescope shows the center of M94 magnified to approximately 7,000 light-years.
This clear close-up reveals the galaxy's small, bright core and distinct inner dust lane. A bright blue ring composed of young, massive stars surrounds it, becoming vividly apparent. The massive stars within this ring appear to be less than 10 million years old, suggesting that the galaxy has undergone a rapid star formation era.
The small, bright core exhibits typical features of active galaxies, specifically Seyfert galaxies. At the same time, M94 is also known as a starburst galaxy. Due to its relatively close proximity, astronomers can study the causes of the rapid star formation occurring in M94 in greater detail.