Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 May 19 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Curly Spiral Galaxy M63 Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Sophie Paulin, [5]Jens Unger, [6]Jakob Sahner Explanation: A bright spiral galaxy of the northern sky, [7]Messier 63 is nearby, about 30 million light-years distant toward the loyal constellation Canes Venatici. Also cataloged as NGC 5055, the majestic [8]island universe is nearly 100,000 light-years across, about the size of our own [9]Milky Way. Its bright core [10]and majestic spiral arms lend the galaxy its popular name, The Sunflower Galaxy. This exceptionally deep exposure also follows faint, arcing star streams far into the galaxy's halo. Extending nearly 180,000 light-years from the galactic center, the star streams are likely remnants of [11]tidally disrupted satellites of M63. Other satellite galaxies of M63 can be spotted in [12]the remarkable wide-field image, including faint [13]dwarf galaxies, which could contribute to M63's star streams in the next few billion years. Tomorrow's picture: Galileo's Europa __________________________________________________________________ [14]< | [15]Archive | [16]Submissions | [17]Index | [18]Search | [19]Calendar | [20]RSS | [21]Education | [22]About APOD | [23]Discuss | [24]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell ([28]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply. [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC & [34]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2305/m63.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.instagram.com/lyaphine/ 5. https://www.astrobin.com/users/jazz.yoki/ 6. https://www.astrobin.com/users/jkbsahner/ 7. http://messier.seds.org/m/m063.html 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100109.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080104.html 10. https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1536a/ 11. https://www.cosmotography.com/images/galaxy_cannibalism.html 12. https://www.astrobin.com/xeei1h/F/ 13. https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.04984 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230518.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230519 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230520.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 34. http://www.mtu.edu/