m63 brc sbig L map

Al di la della Luna; Beyond the Moon; Astrophotography; Astrofotografia; Danilo Pivato

	Tabula RA: 13h 00m ... Dec: +30° 00'



Photo: Danilo Pivato © Copyright: - Images & texts 2016 - All rights reserved


HiRes Map: 2700 x 1850 pixel


The Analysis of Frame

M 63; NGC 5055; UGC 8334; MCG+07-27-054; h 1570; GC 3474; CGCG 217.023; LEDA 46153; 2MASX J13154932+4201454; SDSSJ131549.26+420145.8 TC 822; Sunflowers Galaxy; B3 1313+422; IRAS F13135+4217; ISOSS J13158+4201: Liner-type Active Galaxy Nucleus - [field: 0,38° x 0,68°] - Mag. Limite: 22.4^ - (r) - Fonte: SDSS DR12 --- Object Coordinates: RAJ2000.0: 13h15m49.329s - Dec J2000.0: +42°01'45.44" [SIMBAD] - Morphological type: SA(rs) bc D - Magnitudine: 8.6^ (r); - Angolo di Posizione: 105° - Dimensioni angolari apparenti: 12.6' x 7.2' - fotografiche: 24' x 32' come appare nella fotografia ottenuta con la BRC250 - Magnifico esempio di galassia a spirale di tipo Sbc con tante braccia, sottili, addossate le une alle altre; alcune, un po' anomale, sembrano dei sottili segmenti che si dipartono dal nucleo in direzione radiale. Molti noduli brillanti abbelliscono la parte centrale della galassia, mentre il nucleo risulta puntiforme e non particolarmente luminoso: ad f/5 il ccd SBIG ST-10 con un'esposizione di 1800 sec. ha prodotto un accenno di blooming. Una stella brillante di 9,3^ (v) magnitudine (SAO 44530) spicca vicino al vertice occidentale della galassia, mentre un trio caratteristico di stelle, comprese tra la 12^ e la 13^ grandezza, limita invece il vertice opposto, orientale, di M63. Scoperta da Pierre Machain nel 1779, fu Lord Rosse a notare per primo la struttura a spirale dopo aver osservato con il suo Leviatano da 72". M63 è classificata come "flocculent spiral" a causa della caratteristica forma a scaglie della parte interna che rende complesso l'intero sviluppo e struttura delle sue braccia a spirale. Questa particolare struttura ancora non è stata ben compresa, ma si suppone sia strettamente collegata alle regioni d'intensa formazione stellare o, come nel caso di M63; si pensa che siano gigantesche catene di associazioni molecolari - massicce concentrazioni di gas molecolare - perturbate dalla rotazione differenziale della galassia. Nella parte a S della zona centrale appare sulla galassia una "cicatrice scura", una Striking Dark Lane, così chiamata da Antony Cooke nel suo libro: "Dark Nebulae, Dark Lanes & Dust Belts" ed inserita nel capitolo dedicato alle particolarità scure insite nelle galassie. (...Continua)

Per apprezzare meglio i contenuti della galassia M63 si consiglia di visualizzare la mappa a maggiore definizione disponibile al seguente link: (https://www.danilopivato.com/tabulae_coeli/1300_n30/m63_brc_L_map.html)









Description of the other deep-sky object in the filed:

UGC 8313; LEDA 45992; MCG+07-27-048; CGCG 217-20; 2MASX J13135384+4212308; TC821; Anon 1311+42 - Low Surface Brightness Galaxy: RAJ2000.0 13h15m53.848s - Dec J2000.0 +42°12'30.89" [SIMBAD] - Morphological type: SBc - Dimen-sioni: 1.5' x 0.7' Magnitudine: 14.7^ (b); 14,9^ (r)


Historical observations:

Charles Messier: June 14, 1779. 63. 13h 04m 22s (196d 05' 30") +43d 12' 37" - "Nebula discovered by M. Méchain in Canes Venatici. M. Messier searched for it; it is faint, it has nearly the same light as the nebula reported under no. 59 [M59]: it contains no star, & the slightest illumination of the micrometer wires makes it disappear: it is close to a star of 8th magnitude, which precedes the nebula on the hour wire. M. Messier has reported its position on the Chart of the path of the Comet of 1779."

William Herschel: [PT 1811, p. 310, SP2, p. 482] - Number 63 of the Connoissance des Temps is "A very bright nebula, extending from north-preceding to south-following 9 or 10' long, and near 4' broad; it has a very brilliant nucleus." Fig. 27. [Unpublished Observations of Messier's Nebulae and Clusters. Scientific Papers, Vol. 2, p. 658] 1787, March 18 (Sw. 717). E. npsf. [Elongated north preceding (NW) to south following (SE)], 5 ot 6' long and near 4' broad, bright nucleus, very brilliant. 1787, April 9 (Sw. 725). vB. [Very bright], 9 or 10' long, considerably broad, the brightness confined to a small place.

John Herschel - 1833 - h1570: h 1570 = M63. Sweep 151 (May 6, 1828) RA 13h 8m 10.9s, NPD 47d 4' 12" (1830.0) [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance] B; p m E; v s m b M, almost to a * pos 30deg n p to s f. The s f end more diffu-sed. Has a B * n p and a D * f. Bright; pretty much extended; very suddenly much brighter toward the middle, almost to a star [starlike nucleus], position angle 30deg north preceding [NW] to south following [SE]. The south following [SE] end [is] more diffused. Has a bright star north preceding [to the NW] and a double star following [to the East].

William Henry Smyth: - CCCCLXXVI [476]. M63. - CCCCLXVII. 63 M. Canum Venaticorum - AR 13h 08m 38s, Dec N 42d 52'.7 - Mean Epoch of Observation: 1836.63 [August 1836] An oval nebula on the chest of Asterion, the northern dog discovered by M. Méchain in 1779. This object is of a milky-white tint, and brightens to the centre, where the nucleus resembles a small [faint] star. It is placed between two telescopic stars which cross the parallel vertically, while closer to it in the sp [south preceding, SW] is a third. Sir W. Herschel figured this object in the Philosophical Transactions for 1811, and describes it as very bright, extending from np [north preceding, NW] to sf [south following, SE], 9' or 10' long, and near 4' broad, with a very brilliam nucleus. The mean apparent place was differentiated from Cor Caroli, from which it bears north-north-east 5deg 1/2, on the line indicated from Denebola through Charles's Heart [Cor Caroli, Alpha Canum Venaticorum].

John Herschel, General Catalogue: GC 3474. - GC 3474 = h 1570 = M63. - RA 13h 9m 31.9s, NPD 47d 13' 45.3" (1860.0) [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance] vB; L; pmE 120deg +/- ; vsmbMBN. 3 observations by W. & J. Herschel. Very bright; large; pretty much extended in position angle about 120 degrees +/-; very suddenly much brighter toward the middle where there is a bright nucleus

William Huggins: [Further Observations on the Spectra of some Nebulae, with a Mode of determining the Brightness of these Bodies. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., Vol. 156 (1866), p. 381-397; here p. 389] [No. [GC] 3474. 1570 h. 63 M. R.A. 13h 9m 31s.9. N.P.D. 47d 13' 45".3. Very bright; large; very suddenly much brighter in the middle; bright nucleus.] "Spiral? darkness south floowing nucleus." - Lord Rosse - Spectrum continuous.

John Louis Emil Dreyer: NGC 5055 = GC 3474 = h 1570; Méchain, M 63. - RA 13h 9m 32s, NPD 47d 13.7' (1860.0) [Right Ascension and North Polar Distance] vB, L, pmE 120deg +/- , vsmbMBN; = M63 - Very bright, large, pretty much extended in position angle about 120 degrees +/-, very suddenly much brighter toward the middle where there is a bright nucleus.

Heber Doust Curtis: [Descriptions of 762 Nebulae and Clusters photographed with the Crossley Reflector. Publ. Lick Obs., No. 13, Part I, p. 9-42] - NGC 5055, RA=13:11.3, Dec=+42:34. [Publ. Lick Obs.] Vol. VIII, Plate 46. A bright, beau-tiful spiral 8'x3' in p.a. 98deg. Has an almost stellar nucleus. The whorls are narrow, very compactly arranged, and show numerous almost stellar condensations. See Abs. Eff. 33 s.n.

Camille Flammarion: Les Etoiles et les Curiosites du Ciel & L'Astronomie Populaire - Per quanto riguarda la galassia M63 l'autore francese non riporta nessun riferimento in nessuno dei suoi libri più famosi

Burnham's Celestial Handbook: Burnham calls it a "bright oval spiral galaxy of about the 10th magnitude, 9' x 4' in size, located some 5.5 southwest of the Whirlpool Galaxy ... it was discovered by Mechian in 1779. The 8th magnitude star shown on the photographs lies 3.6' west and slightly north. It is a very fine Sb type spiral, oriented about 30 from the edge-on position. It has a very bright central condensation measuring about 6 arcseconds in diameter. This nucleus is encircled by a bright, tightly coiled system of spiral arms out to a radius of about 50 arcseconds. ... The outer arms are rather reminiscent of showers of sparks thrown out by a rotating fiery pinwheel. To others, the structure apparently resembles some vast celestial flower, since the galaxy has received the popular name of the 'Sunflower'."

R. J. Buta, H. G. Corwin, Jr., & S. C. Odewahn: The de Vaucouleurs Atlas of Galaxies - Anche in questa pubblicazione non ci sono note di riferimento in merito alla galassia M63

The Carnegie Atlas of Galaxies Sandage & Bedke:"...The inner region has very-hight-surface-brighness arms which thread throughout the disk. These filamentary arms can be trace as fragments almost to the center of the galaxy. The surface brightness of the multiple-armed pattern decreases abruptly at radius 50" from the center. The outer, lower-surface-brightness multiple arm fragments, together with their associated dust lanes, wind outward and cover the extended disk, similar to the pattern in the earlier Sb ptototype NGC 2841. Many small, generally unresolved HII region exist, the largest of which are less than 1.5" in diameter. The redshift of M63 is small at Vo = 550 km s-1..."