M74 Grand Design Spiral Galaxy

M74 is a rather small spiral galaxy (10’) seen face on in your telescope. Unfortunately, it has one of the lowest surface brightness of any of Messier’s objects, so you won’t be able to see it, even with a large telescope, unless you are viewing from a VERY dark location. Because it has two, clearly identifiable spiral arms, astronomers call this a “grand design spiral galaxy.” This galaxy is about 30 million light years away from us but not near so far as other galaxies that are faintly visible in a telescope.