739 Messier 2 is a globular cluster lying 55,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. It is a remarkable globular for several reasons. First, it is one of the largest known globulars with a diameter of 175,000 light-years. Second, it is a Shapley-Sawyer Class II globular, which means it has an extremely dense and bright core. How dense? Photometric measurements indicate that a 1 x1 area at its core contributes 37% of its light output. At 5 from the core, an equivalent area contributes only 0.02%. Lastly, it has interesting dark lanes arching and branching across its southwest quadrant (bottom edge in this image) that are not present in the other three quadrants. These dark lanes can be glimpsed visually through amateur telescopes.
315 Messier 106 is a spiral galaxy lying 22 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is a Seyfert galaxy with an active nucleus emitting radio waves and X-rays due to presence of a supermassive black hole actively consuming matter within its core. Violent churning of spiral arms, dust clouds, and sprays of ionized hydrogen can be seen revolving around the nucleus. The the irregular galaxy to its lower left is UGC7356 which lies at a similar distance and the edge on spiral galaxy to its lower right is NGC 4248 which lies 24 million light-years away. Other faint, distant galaxies can be seen scattered around the image.