Spiral galaxy Messier 83
If our Milky Way were to resemble this one, we certainly would be proud of our home ! The beautiful spiral galaxy Messier 83 [4] is located in the southern constellation Hydra (the Water Snake) and is also known as NGC 5236 and as the Southern Pinwheel galaxy. Its distance is about 15 million light-years. Being about twice as small as the Milky Way, its size on the sky is 11x10 arcmin2...
The image show clumpy, well-defined spiral arms that are rich in young stars, while the disc reveals a complex system of intricate dust lanes. This galaxy is known to be a site of vigorous star formation.
Credit:ESO
About the Image
| Id: | eso0525b |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 10 August 2005 |
| Related releases: | eso0525 |
| Size: | 2048 x 2040 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Messier 83 |
| Type: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral |
| Distance: | 15 million light years |
| Constellation: | Hydra |
| Category: | Galaxies |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 13 37 0.95 |
| Position (Dec): | -29° 51' 56.56" |
| Field of view: | 6.83 x 6.80 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 0.0° right of vertical |
View in WorldWide Telescope:
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Optical B | 440 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS2 |
| Optical R | 655 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS2 |
| Infrared H-alpha | 656 nm | Very Large Telescope FORS2 |