M106 — galaxy, shown live in Cosmoscope, a real-time 3D map of the universe.
A spiral with two extra “anomalous” arms made of hot gas, carved by jets from its active core — whose black hole mass is among the most precisely weighed in the universe.
M106 is placed at its true position on the sky and at its real measured distance, not as a flat backdrop. Fly out from the Sun in the live 3D view and watch it change from a point of light into structure as you approach, with the scale bar showing just how far out you have travelled.