Spiral galaxy NGC 891. Optical image of the galaxy NGC 891. This galaxy is seen edge-on, and has a dense band of dust in the plane of its spiral arms. Large amounts of dust are seen extending well above and below the plane of the galaxy. These are thought to have been forced outwards by violent supernovae explosions in the galaxy's disc. Despite being seen edge-on, observations imply that this is a barred spiral galaxy, in which the spiral arms protrude from a bar rather than directly from the nucleus. This image was made by the CFH12K CCD camera on the Canada- France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA.