Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  M 63  ·  NGC 5055  ·  Sunflower galaxy
Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M63 Sunflower Galaxy, Richard Pattie
M63 Sunflower Galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

M63 Sunflower Galaxy

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
M63 Sunflower Galaxy, Richard Pattie
M63 Sunflower Galaxy
Powered byPixInsight

M63 Sunflower Galaxy

Equipment

Loading...

Acquisition details

Loading...

Description

M63, also known as the Sunflower Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici consisting of a central disc surrounded by many short spiral arm segments. M63 is 37 million light years distant with a diameter of 136,000 light years.

The galaxy was the very first discovery made by the French astronomer Pierre Mechain who found it on June 14, 1779 using instruments at the Paris Observatory. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1789.

In the early 1800s, British astronomer William Parsons identified spiral structure within the galaxy, making this one of the first galaxies in which such structure was identified. (His 1845 72" Newtonian telescope "The Leviathan of Parsonstown" was the largest in the world until the early 20th century.)

Comments

Sky plot

Sky plot

Histogram

M63 Sunflower Galaxy, Richard Pattie