M-95 (NGC-3351) is a bright Type SB barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Leo the lion. It lies at a distance of 33 million light years from Earth and is 46,000 light years in diameter. It was discovered in March of 1781 by Pierre Mechain, on the same night he also discovered its companion, nearby M-96.
This image, acquired on February 12, 2013, is a 40 minute integration of 10 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.