M63- Astronomy and astrophotography CCD camera images



04/04/2005
Object name: M63 Sunflower galaxy
Popular name: Sunflower galaxy
Object type: Galaxy
Magnitude: 9.3
Size: 12.6 7.2
Position angle: 10
Classification: Sbc
Apparent RA: 13 15 49.0 Apparent Dec: +42 01 59
Constellation: Canes Venatici

A very transparent night - I was pleased to get the dark lanes showing at the bottom of the galaxy. There is a lot going on in this image - the two thin structures to the left of the bright star at right angles are interesting. Not sure what they are - but they are real, not a processing artifact, and I've seen them on other images.

Captured in k3, stacked in registax. Curves in photoshop. Minimum filter to reduce star saturation.

Exposure Details :

IR Block 102x21s on 200mm @ F5 with SC3.5

Curdridge Observatory, Southampton,UK