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M83, known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy located approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra. The galaxy spans 40,000 light-years across, making it smaller than the Milky Way, and features prominent spiral arms with dark dust lanes, blue star clusters, and numerous reddish star-forming regions that have earned it the nickname "Thousand-Ruby Galaxy." The galaxy's core exhibits intense x-ray emissions due to a high concentration of neutron stars and black holes resulting from past bursts of star formation, and M83 is part of a galaxy group that includes the active galaxy Centaurus A.
Why it matters
M83 serves as an important laboratory for studying galaxy evolution, star formation processes, and stellar remnants. The concentration of neutron stars and black holes in its core provides valuable insights into the aftermath of intense stellar creation periods and helps astronomers understand the life cycles of massive stars and compact objects in galaxies.
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M83: The Southern Pinwheel
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.
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Tomorrow’s picture: lunar sun catcher
| Date | September 11, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Credit & Copyright | Aldo Zanetti |
| Authors & editors: | Jerry Bonnell, Robert Nemiroff, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |
Source: APOD: 2026 September 11 – M83: The Southern Pinwheel