Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  M 63  ·  NGC 5055  ·  Sunflower Galaxy
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Sunflower Galaxy (M63) - LRGB, Christoph Flixeder
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Sunflower Galaxy (M63) - LRGB

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Sunflower Galaxy (M63) - LRGB, Christoph Flixeder
Powered byPixInsight

Sunflower Galaxy (M63) - LRGB

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Description

This galaxy with the cataloguing Messier 63, also called the Sunflower Galaxy, is about 30 million light years away, located in the constellation of Canes Venatici, and is home to about 400 billion stars.
The special thing about this galaxy is that it is surrounded by a massive star stream.
Presumably, the star stream was formed by the "swallowing" of a dwarf galaxy with about 100 million solar masses.

This is the first image of a series of galaxies and nebulae that I will post here in the next weeks and months from my astrophotography trip to La Palma.
I've spent a week of astro imaging there at Athos Centro Astronomico in the new moon phase this march.

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Sunflower Galaxy (M63) - LRGB, Christoph Flixeder