The Sunflower Galaxy
(Click on Picture for larger view)

... The Sunflower Galaxy, March 5, 2019 ...
The Sunflower Galaxy ... New General Catelog (NGC) 5055 ... Messier 63.
This is a spiral galaxy in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici and is about 25-29 million light-years away. It contains about 400 billion stars, as compared to 250 billion stars in our own Milky Way galaxy. The 'Sunflower' sports a bright yellow core, hence its name. This deep space object is high in the ENE around 1 am in early March. This is a two-hour exposure plus an additional 30 minutes from March 1 added to the luminance channel. The sky was crystal clear Tuesday night (March 5).

The Techy Stuff:
The Techy Stuff ... For those who want to know ...
Telescope: Celesron 11" Edge HD at f/10
Mount: Celestron CGX
Guiding: Orion StarShoot AutoGuider Pro & 60mm Scope
Guiding Software: PHD2 ... (RMS Error: 0.26 px)
Camera: Canon T7i (Modified)
Filter: Nonec
Settings: ISO 1600 at 300-second exposure
Total sub-frames: 24
30 Dark & Bias frames
Capture Software: Backyard EOS
Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker at 2X Drizzle
Post processing in PixInsight & Photoshop CC
Bortle Light Pollution zone: 4.5 (Barely can see the Milky Way)
Sky Condition: 10 [scale of 0 (cloudy) to 10 (clear)]
Temperature: 38°F
Location: My Backyard, Savannah, GA

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Earlier picture of the Sunflower Galaxy from my backyard


This was my first capture of the Sunflower Galaxy on March 22, 2018. This was a 2hr 4mn exposure consisting of 61 120-second sub-frames using my Canon 2Ti with an ISO setting of 800. The outside temperature was a bit warmer at 48°F.

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