A Twisted Spiral Galaxy in Ursa Major – NGC 3718

NGC 3718, on the right, has been twisted and contorted through gravitational interaction with NGC 3729 (the smaller galaxy on the left). The interaction has spurred star formation toward the end of the dust lanes.

The pair lives about 52 million light years away in the Ursa Major constellation—home of the Big Dipper. They are positioned just below and to the right of the star Phecda, the lower-left star in the bowl of the Big Dipper.

Just below NGC 3718, a group of interacting galaxies catalogued as the Hickson Compact Group 56 can be seen. They are more than 400 million light years away from us.

The nucleus, which is partially obscured by the dark dust lane through the galaxy’s center, is thought to be active—that is, it contains a supermassive black hole that is swallowing up material that has been unfortunate enough to get too close.