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.

NGC 4236 is a faint, barred spiral galaxy nestled within the constellation Draco, approximately 11.7 million light-years from Earth. Though less luminous than many of its spiral cousins, this galaxy stretches impressively across nearly 200,000 light-years—making it even larger than the Milky Way. Its low surface brightness and diffuse structure make it a challenging target for astrophotography, especially from less-than-pristine skies, but those who capture it are rewarded with delicate filaments of star-forming regions and hints of graceful spiral arms.

Classified as an intermediate spiral, NGC 4236 resides in the M81 galaxy group but appears to have evolved in relative isolation, which may explain its subdued appearance and scattered star clusters. Within its softly glowing disk, regions of H-alpha emission betray sites of ongoing stellar birth, offering insight into how galaxies can sustain slow but steady star formation even in quieter cosmic neighborhoods.

NGC 4236 is a galaxy in a group of galaxies deep space objects not located in our Solar System. It can be located in the constellation of Draco. It is referred to as NGC 4236 in the New General Catalog. This is a list of deep space objects that was compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888 in an update to John Herschel earlier catalog.