Galaxy · Canes Venatici
M63 / Sunflower Galaxy
M63
Image story
What to look for
Look for the warm central glow and the irregular, patchy spiral structure that gives M63 its Sunflower nickname.
A flocculent spiral galaxy with a bright core and mottled, short arm segments scattered across the field.
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Prints and licensing Sky mapImage notes
Capture lesson
A few aberrations remain visible in this image, including asymmetric spikes and streaks around the brighter stars. There are a few other minor issues I have noted, so this will not be the final image of the Sunflower Galaxy. Since it is one of the first images from my EdgeHD 8 while I work through these issues, I still wanted to share it.
Context source: Final processing note + M63 archive capture recordCapture recipe
How this frame was made
Celestron EdgeHD 8 · ZWO ASI2600MC Pro · ZWO AM5 · Filters: None · 96 x 300s (from 175 frames) subs · 8h integration
View acquisition record
- Type
- Galaxy
- Catalog
- M63
- Region
- Canes Venatici
- Captured
- May 2, 2026
- Image size
- 3000 x 2250
- RA
- 198.9552°
- Dec
- 42.0313°
- FOV
- 0.4368 × 0.3275°
- Rotation
- 277.3°
- Optics
- Celestron EdgeHD 8
- Camera
- ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
- Mount
- ZWO AM5
- Filters
- None
- Sub-exposures
- 96 x 300s (from 175 frames)
- Integration
- 8h
- Sky
- Florida Bortle 6
- Software
- PixInsight / Weighted Batch Preprocessing / 2.9.1
- Processing notes
- The published image uses 96 of 175 five-minute light frames: 8 hours integrated from 14h 35m captured for this final selection.
Scale context
Recorded field of view
The recorded frame is about 0.9 full-Moon widths across its long edge.
Calculation note: recorded FOV ÷ 0.5° apparent full-Moon diameter. This describes the captured field, not the physical size or distance of the object.More in the field
