Object: Constellation: Coordinates: Size: Brightness:
M 63
(= NGC 5055)
CVn 13h16m / +42°02' 12.6' x 7.2' 8.5mag

The spiral galaxy Messier 63 (Sunflower Galaxy, NGC 5055) in the constellation Canes Venatici on April 21 / 22, 2015. The galaxy is approximately 37 million light years from Earth and was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1779 (source: Wikipedia).

Thirty-six 3 minute exposures at ISO 800 with no dark frame subtraction were stacked with Deep Sky Stacker (resulting in a 1 h 57 min exposure) and further processed in Photoshop.
Equipment: Canon EOS 450D Baader modified camera, TeleVue Paracorr Type II coma corrector, 16" f/4.5 "Ninja" dobsonian telescope riding on a dual-axis Tom Osypowski equatorial platform, Lacerta MGEN autoguider, Lacerta off axis system (field of view comparison: image of the moon with the same equipment).


Search chart for Messier 63. Map © 2015 "The Mag-7 Star Atlas Project", www.siaris.net. Map is modified. The map can be downloaded here .