Spiral Galaxy M83: The Southern Pinwheel

M83 is one of the closest and brightest spiral galaxies on the sky . Visible with binoculars in the constellation of Hydra , majestic spiral arms have prompted its nickname as the Southern Pinwheel . Although discovered 250 years ago, only much later was it appreciated that M83 was not a nearby gas cloud, but a barred spiral galaxy much like our own Milky Way Galaxy . M83, pictured above by the Hubble Space Telescope in a recently released image, is a prominent member of a group of galaxies that includes Centaurus A and NGC 5253, all of which lie about 15 million light years distant. Several bright supernova explosions have been recorded in M83 . An intriguing double circumnuclear ring has been discovered at the center of of M83 . Organize Your Universe: Free APOD 2014 Calendar in PDF format