Sunflower Galaxy

M63, NGC 5055 · Galaxy in Canes Venatici

Magnitude: 8.6
Size: 12.6′ × 7.2′
Effective surface brightness: 22.1 mag/arcsec²
Best months: Mar, Apr, May
Declination: +42°
Filter: None (broadband target)

A flocculent spiral whose arms break into patches like sunflower seeds. Bright core, subtle outer disc.

Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.

How long with each smart telescope

Total integration for a solid image of the Sunflower Galaxy, default sub length, recommended filter, and how much of each frame it fills. Click a cell for the full Bortle 1 to 9 table.
Telescope	In frame	Bortle 3 (rural)	Bortle 5 (suburban)	Bortle 7 (urban edge)
ZWO Seestar S5010 s subs	29%	38 min231 subs	1 h 03 min376 subs	2 h 48 min1,007 subs
ZWO Seestar S50 Pro10 s subs	15%	43 min257 subs	1 h 09 min414 subs	3 h 03 min1,097 subs
ZWO Seestar S3010 s subs	18%	43 min261 subs	1 h 08 min406 subs	2 h 53 min1,037 subs
ZWO Seestar S30 Pro10 s subs	9%	46 min276 subs	1 h 13 min440 subs	3 h 13 min1,159 subs
DwarfLab DWARF 315 s subs	13%	50 min202 subs	1 h 28 min351 subs	4 h 10 min1,001 subs
DwarfLab DWARF mini15 s subs	18%	38 min153 subs	1 h 02 min249 subs	2 h 47 min670 subs
DwarfLab Draco30 s subs	17%	31 min62 subs	51 min102 subs	2 h 19 min278 subs
DwarfLab DWARF II15 s subs	12%	2 h 50 min681 subs	3 h 57 min949 subs	8 h 50 min2,119 subs
Vaonis Vespera II10 s subs	15%	38 min231 subs	1 h 03 min376 subs	2 h 48 min1,007 subs
Vaonis Vespera Pro10 s subs	13%	1 h 34 min566 subs	2 h 25 min870 subs	6 h 06 min2,198 subs
Vaonis Vespera 310 s subs	14%	36 min219 subs	1 h358 subs	2 h 41 min965 subs
Vaonis Vespera Pro 210 s subs	13%	1 h 29 min534 subs	2 h 18 min826 subs	5 h 50 min2,102 subs
Unistellar eQuinox 24 s subs	37%	52 min779 subs	1 h 07 min1,004 subs	2 h 13 min1,989 subs
Unistellar Odyssey4 s subs	37%	4 h 37 min4,156 subs	5 h 32 min4,975 subs	9 h 30 min8,557 subs
Celestron Origin10 s subs	25%	9 min55 subs	16 min96 subs	46 min275 subs
Celestron Origin Mark II10 s subs	28%	11 min68 subs	21 min127 subs	1 h 04 min385 subs

Open in the calculator

Imaging the galaxy

Galaxies are broadband targets: their light is mostly starlight spread across the spectrum, so a dual-band filter throws most of it away and makes things slower, not faster. Shoot without a filter (or with a plain UV/IR cut) and rely on total time and a dark sky. The core of a galaxy is usually many times brighter than its outer disc, so a short stack shows the nucleus long before the arms; the figures here are for the arms and disc, not the core.

Field rotation in Alt-Az mode crops the edges of the stack over a long session, so on a big galaxy re-centre now and then or use EQ mode where your scope supports it.

Sunflower Galaxy

How long with each smart telescope

Imaging the galaxy

Per-telescope pages