Messier 83

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Messier 83

A Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image of Messier 83.
Credit: HST/NASA/ESA.
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Hydra
Right ascension 13h 37m 00.9s[1]
Declination -29° 51′ 57″[1]
Redshift 513 ± 2 km/s[1]
Distance 14.7 Mly (4.5 Mpc)[2]
Type SAB(s)c[1]
Apparent dimensions (V) 12′.9 × 11′.5[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 8.2[1]
Other designations
NGC 5236,[1] UGCA 366[1], PGC48082[1], Southern Pinwheel Galaxy,[3]
See also: Galaxy, List of galaxies

Messier 83 (also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, M83 or NGC 5236) is an intermediate spiral galaxy approximately 15 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra. It is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky, making it visible with binoculars. Six Supernovae (SN 1923A, SN 1945B, SN 1950B, SN 1957D, SN 1968L and SN 1983N) have been observed in M83.

Contents

[edit] History

Nicolas Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 in 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope[4]. Charles Messier added it to his catalogue of nebulous objects (now known as the Messier Catalogue) in March 1781[4].

On 16 June 2008 NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer project reported finding large numbers of new stars in the outer reaches of the galaxy. It had hitherto been thought that these areas lacked the materials necessary for star formation. [1]

[edit] Nearby galaxies and galaxy group information

M83 is at the center of one of two subgroups within the Centaurus A/M83 Group, a nearby group of galaxies.[2] Centaurus A is at the center of the other subgroup. These two groups are sometimes identified as one group[5][6] and sometimes identified as two groups.[7] 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.[8]

[edit] See also

  • Pinwheel Galaxy - a similar face-on spiral galaxy
  • M83 - a 2000s band taking its name from Messier 83

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Results for NGC 5236. Retrieved on 2006-12-08.
  2. ^ a b I. D. Karachentsev, M. E. Sharina, A. E. Dolphin, E. K. Grebel, D. Geisler, P. Guhathakurta, P. W. Hodge, V. E. Karachetseva, A. Sarajedini, P. Seitzer (2002). "New distances to galaxies in the Centaurus A group". Astronomy and Astrophysics 385: 21-31. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20020042. 
  3. ^ SIMBAD astronomical database. Results for M83. Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
  4. ^ a b K. G. Jones (1991). Messier's Nebulae and Star Clusters, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37079-5. 
  5. ^ R. B. Tully (1988). Nearby Galaxies Catalog. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-35299-1. 
  6. ^ P. Fouque, E. Gourgoulhon, P. Chamaraux, G. Paturel (1992). "Groups of galaxies within 80 Mpc. II - The catalogue of groups and group members". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement 93: 211-233. 
  7. ^ A. Garcia (1993). "General study of group membership. II - Determination of nearby groups". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement 100: 47-90. 
  8. ^ I. D. Karachentsev (2005). "The Local Group and Other Neighboring Galaxy Groups". Astronomical Journal 129: 178-188. doi:10.1086/426368. 
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