Sunflower Galaxy
M63 · NGC 5055
A flocculent spiral whose many short, feathery arms give it the look of a sunflower head.
Spiral
type · Sbc
27 million ly
from Earth · measured
98k ly
across
8.6
apparent magnitude
Because its light is 27 million ly from home, you are seeing Sunflower as it looked roughly 27 million years ago. The photons left before that much of history had passed, and are only now reaching us.
Nearest galaxies
WhirlpoolSpiral4.7 million ly
apartMessier 106Spiral6.1 million ly
apartPinwheelSpiral8.5 million ly
apartBlack EyeSpiral13 million ly
apartBode'sSpiral19 million ly
apartCigarStarburst19 million ly
apart
Worlds in the same direction on the sky→apartMessier 106Spiral6.1 million ly
apartPinwheelSpiral8.5 million ly
apartBlack EyeSpiral13 million ly
apartBode'sSpiral19 million ly
apartCigarStarburst19 million ly
apart
Source: structural data (position, morphology, brightness, redshift) from OpenNGC (CC BY-SA). Distance from published measurements.