M83 [ http://www.seds.org…] is one of the closest and brightest spiral galaxies [ http://www.seds.org…] on the sky. Visible with binoculars in the constellation of Hydra [ http://www.astro.wi…], majestic spiral arms have prompted its nickname as the Southern Pinwheel. Although discovered 250 years ago, only in this century was it appreciated that M83 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] was not a gas cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] but a barred spiral galaxy [ http://www.smv.org/…] much like our own Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. M83, pictured above [ http://www.eso.org/…] in a recently released photograph from a Very Large Telescope [ http://www.eso.org/…], is a prominent member of a group of galaxies that includes Centaurus A [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and NGC 5253, all of which lie about 15 million light years distant. To date, six supernova explosions [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] have been recorded in M83. An unusual double circumnuclear ring [ http://adsabs.harva…] has recently been discovered at the center of M83 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and is still being investigated.
Explanation
M83 [ http://www.seds.org…] is one of the closest and brightest spiral galaxies [ http://www.seds.org…] on the sky. Visible with binoculars in the constellation of Hydra [ http://www.astro.wi…], majestic spiral arms have prompted its nickname as the Southern Pinwheel. Although discovered 250 years ago, only in this century was it appreciated that M83 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] was not a gas cloud [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] but a barred spiral galaxy [ http://www.smv.org/…] much like our own Milky Way Galaxy [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. M83, pictured above [ http://www.eso.org/…] in a recently released photograph from a Very Large Telescope [ http://www.eso.org/…], is a prominent member of a group of galaxies that includes Centaurus A [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and NGC 5253, all of which lie about 15 million light years distant. To date, six supernova explosions [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] have been recorded in M83. An unusual double circumnuclear ring [ http://adsabs.harva…] has recently been discovered at the center of M83 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and is still being investigated.
