M-108 (NGC-3556) is an edge-on barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Ursa Major. It is easily located, lying only 1.5 degrees SE of the 2nd magnitude star Merak (Beta Ursae Majoris). It has a mottled texture and several superimposed field stars. It lies 45 million years from Earth and is 110,000 light years in diameter. It has very loosely wound spiral arms. M-108 is inclined at 75 degrees to our line of sight.
This image, acquired on April 8, 2019, is a 1 hour integration of 6 minute exposures through the Celestron C-11 at f/2, using the HyperStar III imaging system and the Starlight Express SXVR-H694C color CCD camera, operating at -10 degrees below ambient temperature and binned 1 X 1. Guided, captured and combined using Maxim DL5 Pro. Post processed using PhotoShop CS2, Gradient XTerminator, StarShrink,
Carboni's Astro Tools and NoiseWare.