Astrophotography by Keith B. Quattrocchi


M63: The Sunflower Galaxy
Type type SA(rs)bc Spiral Galaxy in Canes Venatici
LRGB Image
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Copyright 2022
Keith B Quattrocchi and Bray Falls

Image Acquisition Information  
                    
Telescope: 16" RCOS Richey Chretien Telescope (ion milled at f/9) 
Camera: ZWO Full Frame Back Illuminated CMOS ASI 6200 MM
Guiding: Starlight Xpress AO with UltraStar Autoguiding Camera (AO control using maxim DL software).
Filters: Astrodon LRBG, H-alpha, S-II and OIII Filters
Acquisition Programs: NINA, The SkyX, PHD2, PWI4
Processing Programs: PixInsight, RC Astro, CCDStack, Photoshop CS4
Date: Data processed on April 1, 2022.  Data acquisition:  March of 2022                           
Time:  6 hours (10 minute exposures) for each of LRGB  for a total of 24 hours.                
              
Image Information: ​M63 is the designation for the Sunflower Galaxy, a spiral galaxy approximately 29.3 million light-years away in the constellation Canes Venatici. It is also known as NGC 5055, discovered in 1779 and later included in the Messier Catalogue. The galaxy has an estimated 400 billion stars and is part of the M51 Group, which includes the Whirlpool Galaxy.  
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Processing Information: These LRGB images were obtained using AstroDon filters.  The LRGB images were batch processed (calibrated, registered, normalized and integrated) in PixInsignt.   Further stretching, high pass filtering and background smoothing was performed with Adobe Photoshop CS/4 and PixInsight.