Posted on 05/22/2025 1:21:40 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: A bright spiral galaxy of the northern sky, Messier 63 is nearby, about 30 million light-years distant toward the loyal constellation Canes Venatici. Also cataloged as NGC 5055, the majestic island universe is nearly 100,000 light-years across, about the size of our own Milky Way. Its bright core and majestic spiral arms lend the galaxy its popular name, The Sunflower Galaxy. This exceptionally deep exposure also follows faint loops and curling star streams far into the galaxy's halo. Extending nearly 180,000 light-years from the galactic center, the star streams are likely remnants of tidally disrupted satellites of M63. Other satellite galaxies of M63 can be spotted in the remarkable wide-field image, including dwarf galaxies, which could contribute to M63's star streams in the next few billion years.
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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
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Nice!
Larry and Moe are the two at bottom left.
Mmmm. Curly fries!
Looks kinda like Uncle Fester’s eyeball with wings.
Wow.
We are so small.
We are so small.
About the size of Mickey Rooney.
I went to the photographer’s website (clicked on his name at the APOD website), and wow, does he have the equipment! AND the astrophotographer’s chops using it all. Beautiful equipment and great processing of the data.
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