M-63 (NGC-5055)

M-63 is a large, bright type SAbc spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs). It lies approximately 30 million light years from Earth and is 98,000 light years in diameter. It is inclined approximately 30 degrees from edge-on. It was discovered by Pierre Mechain in 1779 and was promptly added to Messier's catalog as number 63. It derives its common name "The Sunflower Galaxy because its spiral arms, rather than being continuous, are broken into numerous clumps. Because of this M-63 is called a "flocculent" galaxy.
This image, acquired on April 8, 2019, is a 1 hour integration of 6 minute exposures through the Celestron C-11 at f/2 using the HyperStar III imaging system and the Starlight Express SXVR-H694C color CCD camera operating at -10 degrees below ambient temperature and binned 1 X 1. Guided, captured and combined using Maxim DL5 Pro. Post processed using PhotoShop CS2, Gradient XTerminator, StarShrink,
Carboni's Astro Tools and NoiseWare.