This is the spiral galaxy M81, in the constellation of Ursa Major (the one with the Big Dipper). It's approximately 11.8 million light years distant, but is one of the brightest galaxies in Earth's night sky. Above and to the left, a dwarf companion galaxy to M81 called Holmberg IX can be seen. More intriguing, however, is the large faint loop structure on the right known as Arp's Loop. The loop was thought to be what is called a tidal tail, or a large band of material separated from M81 by nearby galaxy M82. Recent observations though show that Arp's Loop actually might not be too far from the Milky Way. The loop appears similar to clouds of dust observed just a few hundred light years above the plane of the milky way. Weird.
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