M63: Star Streams and the Sunflower Galaxy, 2016 (digital photo)

Creator: Oleg Bryzgalov A bright spiral galaxy, Messier 63 looks like a star necklace in which the stars have crashed towards from the galaxy's centre, producing this fantastic long train. This image was taken at the Rozhen Observatory in the Rhodopes Mountains, Bulgaria. The sky is unbelievably dark and crystal clear. "There's so much incredible detail to see in this image it's difficult to know where to start. The dust lanes and glowing pink star-forming regions of M63's disc are beautifully defined, and the faint streams of stars whirling around the galaxy are just extraordinary. That's before you start to explore the background feild and the myriad distant galaxies lurking there. A remarkable feat of astro-imaging!" Will Gater Born digital photograph entitled 'M63: Star Streams and the Sunflower Galaxy', by Oleg Bryzgalov, taken on the 6th April 2016 at Rozhen Observatory, Smolyan Province, Bulgaria Taken with a 10-inch f/3.8 homemade reflector telescope at f/4.4, Whiteswan 180 mount, QSI 583wsg camera, 22-hour total exposure Winner of the Galaxies category in Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017