Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2020 December 4

                           Curly Spiral Galaxy M63
            Image Credit & Copyright: Fabian Neyer, Rainer Spani
    Collaboration Credit: I.D. Karachentsev, F. Neyer, R. Spani, T. Zilch

   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, while this exceptionally
   deep exposure also follows faint, arcing 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
   this remarkable wide-field image, made with a small telescope,
   including five newly identified faint dwarf galaxies, which could
   contribute to M63's star streams in the next few billion years.

                      Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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