M83

Image Description and Details: Messier 83 (also known as M83, NGC 5236 or Southern Pinwheel Galaxy) is a barred spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation Hydra at a distance of 15.2 million light years from Earth. Located 30 degrees south of the celestial equator, Messier 83 is the southernmost galaxy listed in Messier’s catalogue, which makes it one of the most difficult Messier objects for northern observers because it never rises very high above the southern horizon.
Until recently, the outer regions of M83 were believed to lack star forming material. However, on June 16, 2008, NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer detected large numbers of very young, newly formed stars in these regions.
Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed that the galaxy’s core has a double nucleus, a feature it shares with the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). This does not mean that M83 has two supermassive black holes at its centre, but possibly that the central black hole may be surrounded by an orbiting disk of stars which gives the appearance of a dual core. The double nucleus of M83 may be explained by a merger with a smaller galaxy that occurred in the distant past. The second nucleus may be also the remnant core of the other galaxy that was absorbed by the larger M83.
The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy was discovered by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille on February 23, 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Lacaille catalogued the object as Lacaille I.6. and described it as a “small nebula, shapeless”. Charles Messier included the object in his catalogue on February 17, 1781.

Equipment Details: Planewave CDK24, f/6.5
FLI ProLine PL9000 camera
L filter 18x600"
RGB filters 3x(15x300")
TelescopeLive data

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