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Date: 06/04-05/2016 Location: Fort Davis, TX Telescope: Intes MK-69 - Mount: MI-250 - Camera: ST-2000 Exposure: L = 180 min. R, G, = 60 min. each and B = 55 min. Click on the image to view at higher resolution. |
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Discovered 1779 by Pierre Mechain. M63 was the very first discovery of a Deep Sky object by Messier's friend, Pierre Mechain. The Sunflower galaxy, M63, is one of the early recognized spiral galaxies. It has been classified as a Hubble type Sb or Sc, displaying a patchy spiral pattern which can be traced well to the periphery of its only 6 arc seconds small smooth-textured central region. Although 6 degrees south of M51, it is considered part of a physical group consisting M51 and several smaller galaxies. M63 lies in the constellation Canes Venatici and is approximately 37 million light years from our Milky Way galaxy. 1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower_Galaxy
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