 NGC 2976 does not look like a typical spiral galaxy. In this view of the galaxy's inner region, there are no obvious spiral arms. Dusty filaments running through the disk show no clear spiral structure. Although the gas is centrally concentrated, the galaxy does not have a central bulge of stars. What looks like grains of sand in the image are actually individual stars. Seeing the individual stars allows astronomers to determine their color and brightness, which provide information about when they formed.