M63 "The Sunflower Galaxy"
An LRGB image of M63 the "Sunflower " galaxy.It is located in the constellation of Canes Venatici not too far from the famous M51 "Whirlpool " galaxy ! This image is an integration of 10 exposures at four minutes each using a Starlight Xpress MX7c ccd camera and 11" scope with Star 2000 self guiding interface at f3.0. All images were stacked and dark frame subtracted using AA 2.0 ! Then the luminance and RGB were combined using Photoshop to create the LRGB. Many dark knots are visible in the spiral arms of the galaxy! M63 is easily visible in small scopes at magnitude 8.6 and just a little over 5 degrees from the whirlpool towards the constellation of Coma Berenices !
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