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).

Leo Jul 23 - Aug 22. The three galaxies of the M 66 group are located about 35 million light years from Earth in the constellation Leo. M 65 is the galaxy at the bottom of the photo, while M 66 is on the left and NGC 3628, also known as the Hamburger Galaxy, is on the right. M 65 and M 66 were discovered by Charles Messier in 1780, while NGC 3628 was discovered by William Herschel in 1784.