The Sunflower Galaxy and the Depth of Intergalactic Space

My image of the Sunflower Galaxy (M63), captured from the skies of the United Arab Emirates.

Known as the “Sunflower Galaxy,” M63 is a spiral galaxy famous for the fragmented and patchy structure of its spiral arms, which resemble sunflower petals surrounding a bright galactic core. The galaxy was discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain in 1779 and is located in the constellation Canes Venatici.

This galaxy lies approximately 27 million light-years away from Earth and is considered one of the most visually distinctive spiral galaxies in the northern sky. Its irregular spiral structure contains active regions of star formation mixed with dark dust lanes spread across the galactic disk.

The image also reveals numerous faint background galaxies scattered throughout the field of view, some located hundreds of millions of light-years beyond M63 itself.

• Distance from Earth: ~27 million light-years
• Apparent magnitude: 8.6
• Constellation: Canes Venatici
• Estimated diameter: ~98,000 light-years

A total of 185 exposures, each 180 seconds long, were captured for a total integration time of 9 hours and 15 minutes.

Telescope: Sky-Watcher Quattro 200P
Mount: iOptron HAE43
Camera: ZWO ASI533MC
Guide Scope: Hercules 40ED Guide Scope F3.3
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI120MM
Filter: UV/IR-cut
Controller: ASIAir Plus
Imaging Software: ASIAir

Pixinsight and Photoshop