Messier 63 - The Sunflower Galaxy - 2020 version
Date: May 27, 2020
Cosgrove’s Cosmos Catalog ➤#0026
Messier 63 - The Sunflower Galaxy (click to enlarge)
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About the Target
Messier 63, also known as NGC 5055, M63 is located in the constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs) and has the common name of the Sunflower Galaxy. M63 is a spiral form galaxy with loosely wound arms with relatively poor definition in visible light. The arms are visible when observed by radio at the 21-cm Hydrogen line wavelengths. Located about 29 million light-years from Earth, M63 is a part of the M51 Group, which includes the famous Whirlpool Galaxy.
About the Project
This image was captured on the evening of May 26th.
his was the result of 70 x 120-second exposures. 30 Dark frames, 50 flat frames, and 50 bias calibration frames were also captured.
The Annotated Image
An annotated image of M63 created by using Pixinsight’s ImageSolver and AnnotateImage Scripts.
The Location in the Sky
IAU/Sky & Telescope Constellation Man of Canes Venatici - with M63 marked by the yellow arrow.
Capture Hardware
Scope: Astrophysics 130mm Starfire F/8.35 APO Scope: William Optics 132mm f/7.0 FLT APO
Guide Scope: Sharpstar 61EDPHII
Camera: ZWO ASI1600mm-pro with ZWO Filter wheel with ZWO LRGB filter set,
and Astronomiks 6nm Narrowband filter set
Guide Camera: ZWO ASI290Mini
Focus Motor: Pegasus Astro Focus Cube 2
Camera Rotator: Pegasus Astro Falcon
Mount: Ioptron CEM60
Polar Alignment: Polemaster camera
Software
Capture Software: PHD2 Guider, Sequence Generator Pro controller
Image Processing: Pixinsight, Photoshop - assisted by Coffee, extensive processing indecision and second-guessing, editor regret and much swearing….
During August and September I was out shooting every clear night. I had learned a lot of things but I was also noticing several issues that were causing me problems as I did more imaging. I decided to do something to address those issues….