The Sunflower Galaxy
Officially called M63, this spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away is part of the same group as the Whirlpool Galaxy.
Officially called M63, this spiral galaxy about 30 million light-years away is part of the same group as the Whirlpool Galaxy.
Three nearby galaxies: M65, M66, and NGC 3628. All three are spiral galaxies, viewed from different angles. You can guess which one is called the “Hamburger Galaxy” đŸ™‚
11 light years away, the “bubble” itself is formed from the solar wind of the large, hot star inside of it. Imaged with narrowband filters.
A wider shot of the Eagle Nebula, with the famous “pillars of creation” in its center.
Like the Bubble Nebula, and Thor’s Helmet, this is formed by the fast stellar wind of the extremely hot star at its heart – which interacts in complex ways from the wind left over from when this star was a red giant. This is roughly 5,000 light-years away. These images were taken over the span…
This is a somewhat obscure target; at 46 million light-years distant, it’s hard to capture much detail on it from Earth. But that’s what makes it interesting and challenging! Located within the constellation Ursa Major, this is a flocculent spiral galaxy notable for its massive central core. Look around in the background, and you’ll find…
This week’s target was Thor’s Helmet (NGC 2359), an emission nebula in Canis Major a rather distant 12,000 light-years away. It’s formed by a Wolf-Rayet star in its center, which is a crazy-hot star whose immense stellar wind is bunching up and ionizing the gases around it in these complex patterns. It’ll probably go supernova…