The Messier 63 spiral galaxy: un image – 30 May 2025
We are pleased to present this amazing image of the stunning spiral galaxy Messier 63 (NGC 5055), spotted by the main robotic unit part of our project.
M 63, the “Sunflower” galaxy. 30 May 2025.
The image above comes from the average of 15, 300-second unfiltered exposures, remotely taken with the “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″ + Paramount MEII + SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available as part of the Virtual Telescope Project and installed in Manciano, under the sakes skies of the Italian peninsula.
Messier 63 (M 63), also known as NGC 5055 and nicknamed the Sunflower Galaxy, is really one of the most beautiful universe islands out there.
Located approximately 27 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici, M63 is an outstanding example of a flocculent spiral galaxy, that is a type of spiral that lacks grand, continuous arms but instead shows patchy, complex spiral patterns. These fragmented arms, dotted with young, bright stars and intricate dust lanes, give M63 its sunflower-like appearance, a nickname it clearly deserves. The spiral structure was seen by William Parson, the 3rd Earl of Rosse in the second half of the XIX Century.
First discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1779 and added to Charles Messier’s famous catalog soon after, M63 is part of the M51 Group, a small galaxy group dominated by the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) itself. M63’s structure shows clear signs of past gravitational interactions, possibly with nearby dwarf galaxies, which may have stirred the spiral arms and triggered waves of star formation.
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