One of the more edge on views you'll ever see of a galaxy. It's tipped just a bit so you can get a glimpse of the bright core area just below the dust lane. This is a large spiral galaxy, like our Milky Way. Both are about 100,000 light years in diameter. Like our galaxy, the central bulge is dominated by a population of yellowish older stars. It's entirely possible that this is what our Milky Way looks like. Caldwell 38 (C38) or the Needle Galaxy is about 50 million light years away, which puts it well beyond our local group, but still in the area. It's relative proximity plus its naturally large size make it well within the range of amateur telescopes. It can be found in the northern sky, and is at it's best during the spring months.

10" F6.3 Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope, Modified Canon 300D camera at Prime Focus
4 photos, each with 600 sec exposure at ISO 800
Averaged together, then brightness and contrast enhanced