Many people have a stereotypical picture of what a galaxy looks like.
Usually it is something like the first image below. In reality there are many more forms than the simple spiral, as you will see further on down the page. M81, a spiral galaxy, lies about 12 million light years away. If you look closely, you can see the faint spiral arms to the left and the right of the nucleus. In 1993, a bright supernova occured in this galaxy, attracting quite a bit of attention.