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Messier catalogue · Galaxy

M63 Sunflower Galaxy

Sunflower: look for the centre and elongated shape.

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Photograph of M63 — Sunflower Galaxy
Photograph from volume II · The field may be partial and the colours may result from processing. Credits and source.

Essential information

Category
Galaxy
Alternative designation
NGC 5055
Right ascension / declination
13h16 / +42°02′
Visual magnitude
8,6
Indicative distance
≈ 27 M ly

RA / Dec.: J2000, rounded to the nearest minute. ly = light-year; M ly = million light-years; ≈ = approximate value; — = not available.

At the eyepiece

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Sunflower: look for the centre and elongated shape.

Locating guide from the book1,5° NNW of 20 CVn

N, S, E and W indicate cardinal directions; combinations give a more precise direction. Greek letters identify the constellation’s guide stars. Check the route on a suitable chart.

Photographs help you recognise structures, but do not predict the view through an eyepiece. Detection depends on the sky, the object’s altitude and your instrument.

Sources and credits

Fact sheet adapted from Comprendre comment explorer le ciel, volume II by Steve Cimolino, version dated 17 October 2026. Values and advice are taken from the book; they are not real-time ephemerides.

ESA/Hubble & NASA. NASA / ESA / STScI reuse; see the NASA and ESA/Hubble terms below.

Photograph source and original description ↗ · NASA / ESA / STScI terms

Image resized and converted to WebP for this site; colours and proportions retained. Each image’s own licence continues to apply.

Book data: NASA HEASARC ; coordinates adapted fromOpenNGC, Mattia Verga under CC BY-SA 4.0. The relevant adapted data retain this licence. All image attributions and terms →

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