Image centered on Ra 13-15-49 Dec 42-01-59
M 63 Spiral Galaxy M63 (NGC 5055), type Sb, in Canes Venatici Sunflower Galaxy
Information
Discovered 1779 by Pierre Méchain and cataloged as M63 by Charles Messier soon after. M63 is Nicknamed the " Sunflower Galaxy" due to it's unusual textured resemblance to a Sunflower.
M63 is a spiral Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. The galaxy is approximately 37 million light years from earth and is 10 x 6 arc minutes in diameter with a visual magnitude of 8.6.
Optics and exposure data
Telescope Parks 300mm f5 newtonian
Imager Starlite-Xpress SXV-H9 Using Astronomiks RGB filters
Mount Losmandy G11 with Gemini Control Electronics.
25 minutes luminance with 2 minute subexposures, RGB each channel = 15 minutes with 2 minute subexposures.
Image acquisition using Astroart then aligned and combined with Maxim Dl. Final processing was accomplished using Photoshop Cs
Images acquired from my backyard - " Dirt Clod Observatory" in Antelope California
