NGC 4236 drifts quietly along the northern edge of the M81 Group, a barred spiral galaxy seen nearly side-on from our vantage point 11.7 million light-years away in the constellation Draco. This deep and richly detailed image, captured over 54.5 hours from Jestetten, Germany, reveals the galaxy's faint outer arms, peppered with pink-hued H II regions and blue clusters of young stars. The tilted bar and dusty spiral arms span over 100,000 light-years, rivaling the size of our own Milky Way.

Despite its size, NGC 4236 is unusually dim—a low surface brightness galaxy, with active star formation spread diffusely across its disk. Against a backdrop dense with distant galaxies and foreground stars, the extended exposure time allows the faintest filaments of gas and stellar birth clouds to emerge. These subtle structures are often lost in shorter exposures, making this view both scientifically valuable and visually mesmerizing.