If you look closely, you may see a hint of the large thin disk that surrounds the core of the galaxy. This shot is particularly interesting in that it shows additional detail beyond that done by the Digitized Sky Survey.?
In the DSS, the central core is almost completely burned out. Of course, the DSS photograph is much more pleasing to look at. M77 is 167 thousand light years across and lies 52 million light years distant. C11 at F6.3, Starlight Express CCD camera. Three 10 minute exposures were added together to create this image.