|
Credit & Copyright: Aldo Zanetti
Explanation:
Beautiful and bright
spiral galaxy M83
lies some twelve million light-years away, near the southeastern
tip of the very long constellation
Hydra.
Prominent spiral arms traced by dark dust lanes and blue star
clusters lend this galaxy its popular name, the Southern Pinwheel.
Still, reddish
star forming regions
that dot this cosmic pinwheel's spiral arms
have suggested another nickname, the
Thousand-Ruby Galaxy.
A mere 40,000 light-years across, smaller than the Milky Way,
M83 is a member of a group of galaxies that includes active galaxy
Centaurus A.
In fact, the core of M83 itself is bright
at x-ray energies, showing a high
concentration of neutron stars and black holes left from
an intense burst of star formation.
This sharp, groundbased telescopic view also features
foreground Milky Way stars and distant background galaxies.
APOD's main NASA site is
moving:
From apod.nasa.gov to
science.nasa.gov/apod
|
January February March April May June July August September |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: spiral galaxy
Publications with words: spiral galaxy
See also:
- APOD: 2026 August 30 Á M74: A Grand Design Spiral
- NGC 300: A Cosmic Gemstone with Stars and Gas Clouds
- APOD: 2026 May 29 Á Messier 104
- APOD: 2026 April 5 Á NGC 3310: A Starburst Spiral Galaxy
- APOD: 2026 March 16 Á NGC 1566: The Spanish Dancer Galaxy
- Webb and Hubble: IC 5332
- APOD: 2026 February 4 Á Spiral Galaxy NGC 1512: Wide Field