Daily Image
25-06-2014
Sunflower Galaxy
| Submitter: | Albert van Duin |
| Description: | This beautiful galaxy, known as M63 or NGC 5055, was discovered by Pierre Mechain on June 14, 1779. It is member of the M51 Group of galaxies in the constellation Canes Venatici (Hunting Dogs). The last supernova in this galaxy (not visible in this image) was seen in 1971 and reached magnitude 11.8. Its distance is estimated at 37 million light year. NGC 5055 has been observed with the WSRT several times over the years. It is famous for its warped disk of neutral hydrogen which extend to well beyond the limits of this optical picture. The WSRT images of the neutral hydrogen disk of NGC 5055 even ended up in the book Galactic Dynamics by Binney and Tremaine, generally considered to be 'the Bible' on the topic. The image above was made from Beilen on May 2nd 2014. The total integration time is 3 hours and 10 minutes, with a 400mm F/4.5 telescope and CCD camera. At the height of our high-latitude summer, perpetual twilight is preventing more deep imaging. But starting from the end of July we will get some real darkness again at night. |
| Copyright: | astropix.nl |
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