Information...

M63 is a flocculent spiral galaxy, where the spiral arms aren't easily distinguished, giving it a 'fluffy' appearance. It is located about 27 million light-years from Earth and is part of the M51 Group of galaxies. M63 contains approx. 400 billion stars.

In flocculent galaxies it is thought that the indistinct structure is caused by the effect of differential rotation on areas of star formation.

Near infra-red images of M63 have revealed that the Galaxy has two spiral arms, whilst it has also been reported that there is a stellar tidal stream in the Galaxies halo.

For more info. see the Wikipedia entry and this Deep Sky Video on youtube.

Directions...

M63 is a faint object (apparent magnitude of 8.59), which requires a large aperture telescope to find, and even then may not be visible unless under at a dark sky site.

To find it, first locate Alkaid (η UMa) in the handle of the 'Plough' and Cor Caroli (α 2 CVn) which is a 2.85 Mag double star in the constellation Canes Venatici. M63 lies about 2/3rds of the way between Alkaid and Cor Caroli, which themselves are about 14° apart. (i.e. M63 is 9° from Alkaid and 5° from Cor Caroli).

There is also an asterism of 3x Mag. 4-5 stars, including 20CVn & 23CVn, which form a pointer in the general direction of the Galaxy.

RA: 13h:15m:49.33s / Dec: +42° 01' 45.4" (J2000.0)

Notes