Messier 63 – The Sunflower Galaxy

M63 is an unusual flocculent spiral galaxy in Canes Venatici approximately 27 million light years away. Although this galaxy contains two main arms, they are difficult to distinguish because they are tightly wound and have a clumpy nature that accounts for its flocculence.

The orange clumps are often tinted by faint blue clouds representing prolific formation of new stars. The galaxy is part of a group of galaxies called the M51 Group, so named after Messier 51, the Whirlpool Galaxy. Many thanks to my friend and mentor Ron Brecher for supplying me with hydrogen-alpha data for this image.