APOD 16: MESSIER 63 - THE SUNFLOWER GALAXY

2014 March 13

Messier 63 is about 25 million light years away in the northern sky near constellation Canes Venatici. NGC5055, the majestic island universe is 100k light years across, about the same size as our Milky Way. Messier 63, aka Sunflower Galaxy, has a bright yellow core, with sweeping blue spiral arms, streaked with with cosmic dust lanes and dotted with pink star forming regions. M63 has faint, extended features, due to the gravitational interactions with nearby galaxies. M63 shines across the EM spectrum and is thought to have undergone bursts of intense star formation.