Messier 94

Messier 94 (M94), also known as “Croc’s Eye”, is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici, about 16 million light years from Earth. It is notable for its striking structure resembling an eye, which earned it the nickname “Croc’s Eye”. The bright central star-forming region is surrounded by a conspicuous, compact star-forming ring created by a density wave in the galaxy. This ring is rich in H-II regions and shows a high rate of newly forming stars. M94 has an extended, faint halo dominated by old stars that reaches far beyond the galactic centre.