Messier 109 is a graceful barred spiral galaxy 67 million light-years away in Ursa Major—also known as the Vacuum Cleaner Galaxy for the way its long central bar seems to sweep material inward. That distance is roughly 394 quintillion miles. Stretching 120,000–180,000 light-years across and home to about a trillion stars, it shows a classic “theta” (θ) shape: a bright bar of older, reddish stars that funnels gas and dust toward a supermassive black hole at the center, while its loosely wound spiral arms glow with gas, dust, and hot young blue stars in active star-forming regions. It is the brightest member of the M109 Group (part of the larger Ursa Major Cluster of roughly 80 galaxies). Pierre Méchain discovered it in March 1781, and Charles Messier later added it to his famous catalog. At its current speed, Voyager 1 would need about 1.18 trillion years to reach it—an almost unimaginable journey across the void. Photographed by Annelies Rhemrev.