Celestial hemisphere:  Northern  ·  Constellation: Canes Venatici (CVn)  ·  Contains:  M 63  ·  NGC 5055  ·  Sunflower galaxy
The Sunflower Galaxy, Messier 63, Steven Hanaway
The Sunflower Galaxy, Messier 63
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The Sunflower Galaxy, Messier 63

The Sunflower Galaxy, Messier 63, Steven Hanaway
The Sunflower Galaxy, Messier 63
Powered byPixInsight

The Sunflower Galaxy, Messier 63

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Good morning everyone! Today's image is Messier 63, known as The Sunflower Galaxy. This galaxy is a flocculent spiral galaxy that can be found in the constellation Canes Venatici. Interestingly, this galaxy atypically has an interesting nucleus, exhibiting the features of a LINER (low ionization nuclear emission-line region) meaning that the nucleus of this galaxy emits lights mostly at spectral lines which are weakly ionized or are neutral. Whether or not there is a super massive black hole at the core of this galaxy is uncertain, but if there is, it is likely in the range of 850 million solar masses. This interesting and beautiful galaxy can be found about 27 million light years away and belongs to the M51 galaxy group. I hope you like today's image, and information, be sure to check back regularly for new images, clear skies!

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The Sunflower Galaxy, Messier 63, Steven Hanaway