Sunflower Galaxy

Also known as Messier 63, M63

spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici

AI overview

The Sunflower Galaxy is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici, visible from Earth through telescopes. It's notable as an example of the spiral galaxy structures that astronomers study to understand how galaxies form and evolve.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

~4 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Center of the galaxy

Messier 63 or M63, also known as NGC 5055 or the seldom-used Sunflower Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. M63 was first discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain, then later verified by his colleague Charles Messier on 14 June 1779. The galaxy became listed as object 63 in the Messier Catalogue. In the mid-19th century, Anglo-Irish astronomer Lord Rosse identified spiral structures within the galaxy, making this one of the first galaxies in which such structure was identified.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Sunflower Galaxy” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.