Messier 63 The Sunflower Galaxy

[stevewanstall]

This image of Messier 63, the Sunflower Galaxy, is based on the following subs, all at 180s:

44 L, 25 R, 20 G ,22 B

Darks, Flats and Dark Flats were used for calibration.

L and RGB were processed separately in PS. On combining the two, all I did was to use Hasta LA Vista Green filter, which seemed more effective than trying to Colour Balance.

This is the first image I have taken when using a focus motor and trying different offsets with the different filters.

A bright spiral galaxy of the northern sky, Messier 63 is about 25 million light-years distant in the constellation Canes Venatici. Also cataloged as NGC 5055, the majestic island universe is nearly 100,000 light-years across. That's about the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Known by the popular moniker, The Sunflower Galaxy, M63 sports a bright yellowish core. Its sweeping blue spiral arms are streaked with cosmic dust lanes and dotted with star forming regions. A dominant member of a known galaxy group, M63 has faint, extended features that are likely star streams from tidally disrupted satellite galaxies (just visible in the lower bottom right of the galaxy). M63 shines across the electromagnetic spectrum and is thought to have undergone bursts of intense star formation. (Adapted from APOD).

When I can save the pennies, I think  a Ha filter should be bought, unless anyone has one that they don't want? 🤩