Messier 83

This spiral galaxy is forming new stars in clusters on the edges of its dark, spiraling dust lanes.

Distance

15 million light-years

Apparent Magnitude

7.5

constellation

Hydra

object type

Spiral Galaxy

M83
A photogenic and favorite target for amateur astronomers, the full beauty of nearby spiral galaxy M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel, is unveiled in all of its glory in this Hubble Space Telescope mosaic image. The vibrant magentas and blues reveal the galaxy is ablaze with star formation.
NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: W. Blair (STScI/Johns Hopkins University) and R. O’Connell (University of Virginia)

This beautiful Hubble image captures hundreds of thousands of individual stars, thousands of star clusters and hundreds of supernova remnants in the spiral galaxy M83. Also known as the Southern Pinwheel, this galaxy is located 15 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation Hydra. It was discovered in 1752 by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille. With an apparent magnitude of 7.5, M83 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the night sky. It can be observed using a pair of binoculars most easily in June.

stars near M83 core
This Hubble image provides a close-up view of the myriad stars near M83’s core, the bright, whitish region at far right. The red color in the image represents infrared light and the glowing hydrogen produced by newborn stars. The blue represents oxygen and ultraviolet light from slightly older stars.
NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Hubble’s image reveals interstellar “bubbles” produced by nearly 300 supernovas. By studying these supernova remnants, astronomers can better understand the nature of the stars that exploded and dispersed their nuclear processed chemical elements back into the galaxy, contributing to the next generation of new stars.

The newest generations of stars in M83 are forming largely in clusters on the edges of the dark, spiraling dust lanes. These brilliant, young stellar groupings are only a few million years old and produce huge amounts of ultraviolet light. That light is absorbed by the surrounding diffuse gas clouds, causing them to glow in pinkish hydrogen light.

For more information about Hubble’s observations of M83, see:

locator star chart for M83
This star chart for M83 represents the view from mid-northern latitudes for the given month and time.
Image courtesy of Stellarium

Explore Hubble's Messier Catalog

The following pages contain some of Hubble’s best images of Messier objects.

Bright green, orange, and yellow tendrils intertwined within this egg shaped nebula.

Messier 1 (The Crab Nebula)

Better known as the Crab Nebula, Charles Messier originally mistook Messier 1 for Halley’s Comet, which inspired him to create…

A Hubble image of a ball of thousands of stars

Messier 2

Hubble's image of Messier 2 is comprised of visible and infrared wavelengths of light.

Hubble view of M3 - a ball of thousands of stars.

Messier 3

Messier 3 holds more than 500,000 stars.