Object Information:                  Messier 63  (NGC 5055),
                                                Magnitude  -  8.6,
                                                Constellation -  Canes Venatici,
                                                Distance -  estimated to be approximately 35 million light years distant,

Description:   Messier 63's interesting feature is its spiral arms which are multiple short spiral arcs.  These short arms are different from the "typical" spiral galaxy which contains two or three distinct and easily observed arms.  Messier 63's structure reminds some observers of a celestial flower, hence its common name - "Sunflower Galaxy".  

Imaged at:                                San Diego Astronomy Assn. observing site at Tierra Del Sol - San Diego County, California;
                                                Elevation - 3750 feet

Equipment:                               Optics - Takahashi MT-160 6.25 inch classical Newtonian reflector at f/6.3,
                                                Mount - Losmandy G-11 with SkyWalker Servo drive,
                                                Camera - Santa Barbara Instrument Group (SBIG) ST-7E NABG CCD,
                                                Focal Reducer/Field Flattener - none,
                                                Filter - none,

Exposure Information:              May 18, 2002
                                                Sum of fifteen, 300 second exposures,
                                                Guided with the SBIG STV,

Image Acquisition Software:     CCD Soft Ver. 5,

Image Processing Software:      Image calibration - AIP for Windows; Image registration and stacking - MIRA AP 6.03;  Final processing - Photoshop 6.

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