Sunflower Galaxy (M63) Observation Details
M63 Daily Motion
M63 will be visible until September, 14, when it will move too close to the Sun. During this time, its proximity to the Sun will cause it to disappear from the night sky, making it unobservable for a while.
M63 Visibility Timetable on May 17
M63 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M63 rise | 14:11 | |
| Sunset | 20:34 | 61° |
| Civil sunset | 21:05 | 66° |
| Astrosession begin | 22:21 | 80° |
| M63 transit | 23:06 | 86° |
| Moon Rise, 81.5% illuminated | 00:41 | 71° |
| Astrosession end | 04:33 | 29° |
| Civil sunrise | 05:50 | 17° |
| Sunrise | 06:20 | 13° |
| M63 set | 08:02 | |
| Moon Set | 09:59 | -9° |
Track M63 Position Throughout the Night
← Sat, 17 May 2025 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M63 - Sunflower Galaxy
The Sunflower Galaxy (M63) is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1779 and later cataloged by Charles Messier. M63 is known for its bright core and well-defined spiral arms.
M63 spans about 98,000 light-years across and contains a massive population of stars, gas, and dust. The galaxy is approximately 27 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 8.6, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M63 Image Gallery
DSS Blue
DSS Red
DSS Near-Infrared
DSS Composite image
The photos are taken from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), which was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under NASA contract, using data from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II).
Special thanks to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the California Institute of Technology for their significant contributions.
Finder Chart for M63
| Object name | M63 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M63 coordinates | 13.2637, 42.02928 |
| Center coordinates | 13.2637, 42.02928 |
M63 Passage Through Night
Current position of M63
| Time | 23:58 |
| Latitude | 37.751 |
| Longitude | -97.822 |
| M63 elevation | 79° |
| M63 Azimuth | 63° |
Annual motion of M63
| Date | Sun, 18 May 2025 |
| Twighlight start | 22:21 |
| Twighlight end | 04:31 |
| Twighlight duration | 6h 10m |
| Rise | 14:07 |
| Set | 07:58 |
| Elevation at transit | 86° |
| Transit time | 23:02 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 13h 15m 49s", Dec: 42° 01' 45s |
| Magnitude | 9 |
| Constellation | Canes Venatici |
The graph is structured with the vertical axis showing the hours of the day, ranging from 12 AM to 12 AM the next day, while the horizontal axis spans each day of the year.
The reddish shaded area indicates the periods when the M63 is above the horizon, visible to observers. The white line marks the times when the celestial object reaches its highest point in the sky each day, known as the transit.
Data Credits
The nebulae information on this page is sourced from the OpenNGC project, developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed data on the NGC catalog, which is a valuable resource for exploring deep-sky objects such as nebulae.
For more details or to contribute to OpenNGC, visit the official GitHub repository: OpenNGC on GitHub.