The winding arms of Messier 63 shine so bright due to the presence of cumulus and blue-white giant stars recently formed. Found by Pierre Mechain in 1779, the galaxy is about 27 million light years away and became the 63rd entry of the famous catalogue by French astronomer Charles Messier, published in 1781.
Both astronomers discovered the sunflower galaxy's glow at north of the small constellation Canes Venatici (The Hunting Dogs). This galaxy belongs to the M51 Group, named after its brightest member Messier 51, which is a spiral-shaped galaxy also known as the Whirlpool Galaxy.
It appears that the galactic arms, sunflowers and whirlpools are just some examples of the nature’s apparent preference for spirals.
Add new comment