M 63 is a spiral galaxy which lacks the long, well-defined
spiral arms more typical of this type of galaxy, and instead
has short, fragmented, patchy arms. Galaxies such as M 63 are
called 'flocculent" ("wooly") galaxies. The central part of the
galaxy is made up mainly of older, yellow stars; the arms are marked
by reddish nebula areas of new star formation and blue knots of new
star clusters. M 63 is about 100,000 light years in diameter, approximately
the same size as the Milky Way. It is found in the constellation
Canes Venatici, about 37 million light years from earth.

If you look around in the full size image, you will notice numerous tiny
galaxies that lie beyond M 63. There are at least 160 of them visible in this
image!

Image data:
Camera: SBIG ST-4000XCM
Exposure: 10 minutes x 18
Telescope: 10" Schmidt-Newtonian, Baader MPCC