Big, Beautiful, and Blue

NGC 2336 is the quintessential galaxy — big, beautiful, and blue. The barred spiral galaxy stretches an immense 200,000 light-years across and is located approximately 100 million light-years away in the northern constellation of Camelopardalis (the Giraffe). Its spiral arms glitter with young stars, visible in their bright blue light. In contrast, the redder central part of the galaxy is dominated by older stars.