Messier 83 or M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5236, is a barred spiral galaxy[7] approximately 15 million light-years away in the constellation borders of Hydra and Centaurus. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on 17 February 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope.[8] Charles Messier added it to his catalogue of nebulous objects (now known as the Messier Catalogue) in March 1781.[8]
| Messier 83 | |
|---|---|
 Messier 83 captured by the Wide Field Imager at ESO's La Silla Observatory in September 2008 | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Hydra |
| Right ascension | 13h 37m 00.919s[1] |
| Declination | −29° 51′ 56.74″[1] |
| Redshift | 0.001721±0.000013[2] |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 508 km/s[3] |
| Distance | 14.7 Mly (4.50 Mpc)[3] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 7.6[4] |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | SAB(s)c[2] |
| Size | 36.24 kiloparsecs (118,000 light-years) (diameter; 26.0 mag/arcsec2 B-band isophote)[2] |
| Apparent size (V) | 12′.9 × 11′.5[5] |
| Other designations | |
| Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, NGC 5236, PGC 48082, UGCA 366[6] | |
It is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky, and is visible with binoculars.[9] It has an isophotal diameter at about 36.24 kiloparsecs (118,000 light-years). Its nickname of the Southern[a] Pinwheel derives from its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101).
Characteristics
M83 is a massive, grand design spiral galaxy.[10] Its morphological classification in the De Vaucouleurs system is SAB(s)c,[2] where the 'SAB' denotes a weak-barred spiral, '(s)' indicates a pure spiral structure with no ring, and 'c' means the spiral arms are loosely wound.[11] The peculiar dwarf galaxy NGC 5253 lies near M83,[12] and the two likely interacted within the last billion years resulting in starburst activity in their central regions.[10]
The star formation rate in M83 is higher along the leading edge of the spiral arms, as predicted by density wave theory.[13] NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer project on 16 April 2008 reported finding large numbers of new stars in the outer reaches of the galaxy—20 kpc from the center. It had hitherto been thought that these areas lacked the materials necessary for star formation.[14][15]
Supernovae
Six supernovae have been observed in M83: SN 1923A (mag. 14),[16] SN 1945B (mag. 14.2),[17] SN 1950B (mag. 14.5),[18] SN 1957D (mag. 15),[19][20] SN 1968L (mag. 11.9),[21] and SN 1983N (type Ia, mag. 11.9).[22]
Environment
M83 is at the center of one of two subgroups within the Centaurus A/M83 Group, a nearby galaxy group.[23] Centaurus A is at the center of the other subgroup. These are sometimes identified as one group,[24][25] and sometimes as two.[26] However, the galaxies around Centaurus A and the galaxies around M83 are physically close to each other, and both subgroups appear not to be moving relative to each other.[27]
See also
- List of Messier objects
- M83 (band), the band named after the galaxy
References
External links
- Messier 83 on WikiSky: DSS2, SDSS, GALEX, IRAS, Hydrogen α, X-Ray, Astrophoto, Sky Map, Articles and images
- ESO Photo Release eso0136, An Infrared Portrait of the Barred Spiral Galaxy Messier 83
- M83, SEDS Messier pages
- Spiral Galaxy Messier 83 at the astro-photography site of Takayuki Yoshida
- M83 The Southern Pinwheel
- X-rays Discovered From Young Supernova Remnant Archived 17 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine (SN 1957D)
- Bauer, Amanda; Haese, Paul. "M83 – Southern Pinwheel Galaxy". Deep Sky Videos. Brady Haran.
- Messier 83 (Southern Pinwheel Galaxy) at Constellation Guide
