ASTRO:
     type=Flocculant spiral galaxy
     const=Canes Venatici
     mag=9.3
     dist=29 M ly
     size=106k ly
IMAGE:
     location=EB Driveway
     BrtlCls=4
     moon=69% WnGb
     exposure=CMOS OSC: 80x180s (4.0h), G100
EQUIPMENT:
​     optics=ES102CF APO / Hyperion 24mmEP (afocal) 1.7x, FL(eff.)=1238mm, f(eff.)/12.1
     camera=ZWO ASI2600MC-Pro
     filter=Optolong L-Pro LPS
     mount=Celestron AVX
     guiding=Orion 60x240mm, ZWO ASi224MC
SOFTWARE:
     acquisition=Stellarium, NINA, PHD2,
     processing=PixInsight (RCAstro), Photoshop (RCAstro, WebSharp-Pro), LrC

Messier 63 (or M63), also known as NGC 5055, together with the seldom-used common name "Sunflower Galaxy", is a spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici containing an estimated 400 billion stars.  M63 was first discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain, then later verified by his colleague Charles Messier on June 14, 1779.  The galaxy became listed as object 63 in the Messier Catalogue.   Then in the mid-19th century, Anglo-Irish astronomer Lord Rosse identified spiral structures within the galaxy, making this one of the first galaxies in which such structure was identified.

The shape or morphology of this galaxy indicates a spiral form without a central bar feature, but having loosely wound arms. There is a general lack of large-scale continuous spiral structure in visible light, so it is considered (officially classified as) a flocculent galaxy.

M63 is a weakly active galaxy with an unresolved source at its galactic nucleus that is cloaked in diffuse emission.  Both soft X-rays and hydrogen (H-alpha) emissions can be observed coming from along nearly the same direction.  The existence of a supermassive black hole at the nucleus is uncertain.   If it does exist, then the mass is estimated as 850 million times the mass of our Sun.

250320 - M63 "Sunflower" galaxy