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M63 Sunflowerl Galaxy (aka. NGC 5055)
Magnitude: 9.3
Distance: Aprox: 27 million light-years
Constellation: Canes Venatici
Diameter: 98,000 light-years

The Sunflower Galaxy is one of the four Messier galaxies found in Canes Venatici constellation, along with Messier 51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy), Messier 94 (the Cat’s Eye Galaxy), and Messier 106.

Messier 63 is known for its appearance, for which it was named Sunflower, with a bright yellow central disc and a number of short spiral arm segments dotted with starburst regions and dust lanes. The Sunflower Galaxy is a prototype for a class of galaxies known as flocculent spirals. It appears to have many spiral arms because the arms appear patchy and discontinuous. Flocculent spirals are the opposite of grand design spiral galaxies, which have a clearly defined spiral structure.

Taken 3/10/18 in Toledo Ohio by Russell Kille on a CPC 1100 with Hyperstar @ F2 and ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera