Astrophotography Gallery

Unlike most spiral galaxies, which have well-defined arms, the Sunflower Galaxy is a flocculent spiral galaxy. Discovered in 1779 by Pierre Mechain, the Sunflower Galaxy is 27 million light years from us in the constellation Canes Venatici. This galaxy is about the same size as the Milky Way Galaxy and contains 400 billion stars. The Sunflower Galaxy is part of the M 51 Galaxy Group, whose most prominent member is the grand design spiral Whirlpool Galaxy (M 51).

Pisces - Feb 19 - Mar 20. The spiral Pinwheel Galaxy is between 20 and 27 million light years from us in the constellation Pisces. That means that the light we see was emitted over 20 million years ago and took that long (at the speed of light!) to travel to Earth. The Pinwheel Galaxy is a cluster of around a trillion stars held together by gravity. It’s a spiral galaxy with a central bulge of stars and arms of stars, dust and gases. The entire galaxy is rotating together. Hotter stars appear white or blue, while cooler stars appear red or brown.