At a distance of approximately 29.3 million light years, M63 is a flocculent spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Coma Berenices. The most notable feature of this image is the presence of tidal streams, visible as a haze surrounding the galaxy, as well as a faint hoop of far-flung stars along the northwest quadrant.

Tidal streams are the result of gravitational interactions between nearby galaxies; these can be passers-by, collisions, or mergers. When galaxies get too close, they start to tug on each other, often resulting in the smaller galaxy eventually being absorbed by the larger of the two. This particular galaxy contains around 400 billion stars.

Wait, what exactly is a galaxy in the first place? Well, they are essentially the largest “building blocks” of the universe. They contain everything that is smaller than them, from nebulae to stars, planets, moons, comets—you name it, it likely resides within a galaxy.