Behold the Blazing Splendor of the Sunflower Galaxy

Astronomers call Messier 63 the Sunflower Galaxy, because they say its spiral shape resembles the spiral of seeds at the center of a sunflower.

Behold the Blazing Splendor of the Sunflower Galaxy

Well, sort of.

In this image from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Sunflower Galaxy also resembles the swirling arms of a hurricane, but on a galactic scale.

Behold the Blazing Splendor of the Sunflower Galaxy

Each of those points of light in the galaxy’s spiral arms is a star or cluster of stars, newly formed and blazing blue-white. The Sunflower Galaxy is 27 million light years away in the M51 Group, a group of galaxies dominated by Messier 51, the Whirlpool Galaxy.

source: gizmodo.com by Kiona Smith-Strickland

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