Messier 83

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Messier 83
M83 - Southern Pinwheel.jpg
Messier 83 captured by the Wide Field Imager at ESO's La Silla Observatory in September 2008
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Hydra
Right ascension 13h 37m 00.919s [1]
Declination −29° 51′ 56.74″ [1]
Redshift 0.001721±0.000013 [2]
Heliocentric radial velocity 508 km/s [3]
Distance 14.7  Mly (4.50  Mpc) [3]
Apparent magnitude  (V)7.6 [4]
Characteristics
Type SAB(s)c [2]
Size36.24 kiloparsecs (118,000 light-years)
(diameter; 26.0 mag/arcsec2 B-band isophote) [2]
Apparent size  (V)12′.9 × 11′.5 [5]
Other designations
Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, NGC 5236, PGC 48082, UGCA 366 [6]

Messier 83 or M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5236, is a barred spiral galaxy [7] approximately 15 million light-years away in the constellation borders of Hydra and Centaurus. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on 17 February 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope. [8] Charles Messier added it to his catalogue of nebulous objects (now known as the Messier Catalogue) in March 1781. [8]

Contents

It is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky, and is visible with binoculars. [9] It has an isophotal diameter at about 36.24 kiloparsecs (118,000 light-years ). Its nickname of the Southern [lower-alpha 1] Pinwheel derives from its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101).

Characteristics

M83 is a massive, grand design spiral galaxy. [10] Its morphological classification in the De Vaucouleurs system is SAB(s)c, [2] where the 'SAB' denotes a weak-barred spiral, '(s)' indicates a pure spiral structure with no ring, and 'c' means the spiral arms are loosely wound. [11] The peculiar dwarf galaxy NGC 5253 lies near M83, [12] and the two likely interacted within the last billion years resulting in starburst activity in their central regions. [10]

The star formation rate in M83 is higher along the leading edge of the spiral arms, as predicted by density wave theory. [13] NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer project on 16 April 2008 reported finding large numbers of new stars in the outer reaches of the galaxy—20  kpc from the center. It had hitherto been thought that these areas lacked the materials necessary for star formation. [14] [15]

Supernovae

Six supernovae have been observed in M83: SN 1923A (mag. 14), [16] SN 1945B (mag. 14.2), [17] SN 1950B (mag. 14.5), [18] SN 1957D (mag. 15), [19] [20] SN 1968L (mag. 11.9), [21] and SN 1983N (type Ia, mag. 11.9). [22]

Environment

M83 is at the center of one of two subgroups within the Centaurus A/M83 Group, a nearby galaxy group. [23] Centaurus A is at the center of the other subgroup. These are sometimes identified as one group, [24] [25] and sometimes as two. [26] 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. [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinwheel Galaxy</span> Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

The Pinwheel Galaxy is a face-on spiral galaxy located 21 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 and was communicated that year to Charles Messier, who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 61</span> Galaxy in the constellation Virgo

Messier 61 is an intermediate barred spiral galaxy in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies. It was first discovered by Barnaba Oriani on May 5, 1779, six days before Charles Messier discovered the same galaxy. Messier had observed it on the same night as Oriani but had mistaken it for a comet. Its distance has been estimated to be 45.61 million light years from the Milky Way Galaxy. It is a member of the M61 Group of galaxies, which is a member of the Virgo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the southern edge of the Virgo Supercluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centaurus A</span> Radio galaxy in the constellation Centaurus

Centaurus A is a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop from his home in Parramatta, in New South Wales, Australia. There is considerable debate in the literature regarding the galaxy's fundamental properties such as its Hubble type and distance. NGC 5128 is one of the closest radio galaxies to Earth, so its active galactic nucleus has been extensively studied by professional astronomers. The galaxy is also the fifth-brightest in the sky, making it an ideal amateur astronomy target. It is only visible from the southern hemisphere and low northern latitudes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 66</span> Intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Leo

Messier 66 or M66, also known as NGC 3627, is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the southern, equatorial half of Leo. It was discovered by French astronomer Charles Messier on 1 March 1780, who described it as "very long and very faint". This galaxy is a member of a small group of galaxies that includes M65 and NGC 3628, known as the Leo Triplet or the M66 Group. M65 and M66 are a common object for amateur astronomic observation, being separated by only 20′.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centaurus A/M83 Group</span> Group of galaxies in the constellations Centaurus, Hydra and Virgo

The Centaurus A/M83 Group is a complex group of galaxies in the constellations Hydra, Centaurus, and Virgo. The group may be roughly divided into two subgroups. The Cen A Subgroup, at a distance of 11.9 Mly, is centered on Centaurus A, a nearby radio galaxy. The M83 Subgroup, at a distance of 14.9 Mly, is centered on the Messier 83 (M83), a face-on spiral galaxy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 99</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

Messier 99 or M99, also known as NGC 4254 or St. Catherine's Wheel, is a grand design spiral galaxy in the northern constellation Coma Berenices approximately 15,000,000 parsecs from the Milky Way. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain on 17 March 1781. The discovery was then reported to Charles Messier, who included the object in the Messier Catalogue of comet-like objects. It was one of the first galaxies in which a spiral pattern was seen. This pattern was first identified by Lord Rosse in the spring of 1846.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 106</span> Galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici

Messier 106 is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. M106 is at a distance of about 22 to 25 million light-years away from Earth. M106 contains an active nucleus classified as a Type 2 Seyfert, and the presence of a central supermassive black hole has been demonstrated from radio-wavelength observations of the rotation of a disk of molecular gas orbiting within the inner light-year around the black hole. NGC 4217 is a possible companion galaxy of Messier 106.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 108</span> Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

Messier 108 is a barred spiral galaxy about 28 million light-years away from Earth in the northern constellation Ursa Major. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781 or 1782. From the Earth, this galaxy is seen almost edge-on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3184</span> Galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

NGC 3184, the Little Pinwheel Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy approximately 40 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Its name comes from its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy. It has two HII regions named NGC 3180 and NGC 3181.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4414</span> Galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4414 is an unbarred spiral galaxy about 62 million light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. It is a flocculent spiral galaxy, with short segments of spiral structure but without the dramatic well-defined spiral arms of a grand design spiral. Four supernovae have been observed in this galaxy: SN 1974G, SN 2013df, SN 2021J, and SN 2023hlf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4945</span> Galaxy in the constellation Centaurus

NGC 4945 (also known as Caldwell 83) is a barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Centaurus, visible near the star Xi Centauri. The galaxy was discovered by James Dunlop in 1826 and is thought to be similar to the Milky Way Galaxy, although X-ray observations show that NGC 4945 has an unusual energetic Seyfert 2 nucleus that might house a supermassive black hole. Around the nucleus of the galaxy, there is a dense disk of dust and gas, along with many dense star clusters. This object has an estimated mass of 1.4+1.4
−0.7×1011 M☉.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5253</span> Irregular galaxy in the M83 group of galaxies

NGC 5253 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Centaurus. It was discovered by William Herschel on 15 March 1787.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1566</span> Galaxy in the constellation Dorado

NGC 1566, sometimes known as the Spanish Dancer, is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Dorado, positioned about 3.5° to the south of the star Gamma Doradus. It was discovered on May 28, 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. At 10th magnitude, it requires a telescope to view. The distance to this galaxy remains elusive, with measurements ranging from 6 Mpc up to 21 Mpc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 5962</span> Galaxy in the constellation Serpens

NGC 5962 is a spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Serpens Caput. It was discovered by the Anglo-German astronomer William Herschel on March 21, 1784. The NGC 5962 galaxy is located at a distance of 120 million light years and is receding with a heliocentric radial velocity of 1,957 km/s. It is the brightest member of the eponymously-named NGC 5962 group, which overlaps with the nearby NGC 5970 group; the two groups may be gravitationally bound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 3169</span> Galaxy in the constellation Sextans

NGC 3169 is a spiral galaxy about 75 million light years away in the constellation Sextans. It has the morphological classification SA(s)a pec, which indicates this is a pure, unbarred spiral galaxy with tightly-wound arms and peculiar features. There is an asymmetrical spiral arm and an extended halo around the galaxy. It is a member of the NGC 3166 Group of galaxies, which is a member of the Leo II Groups, a series of galaxies and galaxy clusters strung out from the right edge of the Virgo Supercluster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4651</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Coma Berenices

NGC 4651 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation of Coma Berenices that can be seen with amateur telescopes, at a distance not well determined that ranges from 35 million light years to 72 million light years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 922</span> Peculiar galaxy in the constellation Fornax

NGC 922 is a peculiar galaxy in the southern constellation of Fornax, located at a distance of 142 Mly from the Milky Way. It is one of the nearest known collisional galaxies. This object was described by the Herschels as "considerably faint, pretty large, round, gradually pretty much brighter middle." The general form is described by the morphological classification of SB(s)cd pec, which indicates a peculiar (pec) barred spiral galaxy (SB) with no inner ring system around the bar (s) and loosely-wound spiral arms (cd).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 1614</span> Galaxy in the constellation Eridanus

NGC 1614 is the New General Catalogue identifier for a spiral galaxy in the equatorial constellation of Eridanus. It was discovered on December 29, 1885 by American astronomer Lewis Swift, who described it in a shorthand notation as: pretty faint, small, round, a little brighter middle. The nebula was then catalogued by Danish-Irish astronomer J. L. E. Drayer in 1888. When direct photography became available, it was noted that this galaxy displayed some conspicuous peculiarities. American astronomer Halton Arp included it in his 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. In 1971, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky described it as a "blue post-eruptive galaxy, compact patchy core, spiral plumes, long blue jet SSW".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 4939</span> Spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo

NGC 4939 is a spiral galaxy located in the constellation Virgo. It is located at a distance of about 120 million light years from Earth, which, given its apparent dimensions, means that NGC 4939 is about 190,000 light years across. It was discovered by William Herschel on March 25, 1786.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NGC 6951</span> Galaxy in the constellation Cepheus

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References

  1. 1 2 Skrutskie, Michael F.; Cutri, Roc M.; Stiening, Rae; Weinberg, Martin D.; Schneider, Stephen E.; Carpenter, John M.; Beichman, Charles A.; Capps, Richard W.; Chester, Thomas; Elias, Jonathan H.; Huchra, John P.; Liebert, James W.; Lonsdale, Carol J.; Monet, David G.; Price, Stephan; Seitzer, Patrick; Jarrett, Thomas H.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Gizis, John E.; Howard, Elizabeth V.; Evans, Tracey E.; Fowler, John W.; Fullmer, Linda; Hurt, Robert L.; Light, Robert M.; Kopan, Eugene L.; Marsh, Kenneth A.; McCallon, Howard L.; Tam, Robert; Van Dyk, Schuyler D.; Wheelock, Sherry L. (1 February 2006). "The Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS)". The Astronomical Journal. 131 (2): 1163–1183. Bibcode:2006AJ....131.1163S. doi: 10.1086/498708 . ISSN   0004-6256. S2CID   18913331.
  2. 1 2 3 4 de Vaucouleurs, G.; et al. (1991). "Third reference catalogue of bright galaxies". 9. New York: Springer-Verlag.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. 1 2 Tully, R. Brent; et al. (August 2016). "Cosmicflows-3". The Astronomical Journal. 152 (2): 21. arXiv: 1605.01765 . Bibcode:2016AJ....152...50T. doi: 10.3847/0004-6256/152/2/50 . S2CID   250737862. 50.
  4. ↑ "Messier 83". SEDS Messier Catalog. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  5. ↑ "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for NGC 5236. Retrieved 8 December 2006.
  6. ↑ "M 83". SIMBAD . Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg . Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  7. ↑ "Multimedia Gallery: M83 – Southern Pinwheel Galaxy". NASA/JPL-Caltech/WISE Team. 25 June 2010.
  8. 1 2 Jones, K. G. (1991). Messier's Nebulae and Star Clusters (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-37079-0.
  9. ↑ "M 83". messierobjects101.com. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  10. 1 2 Calzetti, Daniela; Conselice, Christopher J.; Gallagher, John S. III; Kinney, Anne L. (August 1999). "The Structure and Morphology of the Ionized Gas in Starburst Galaxies: NGC 5253/5236". The Astronomical Journal. 118 (2): 797–816. arXiv: astro-ph/9904428 . Bibcode:1999AJ....118..797C. doi:10.1086/300972. S2CID   16296827.
  11. ↑ de Vaucouleurs, Gérard (April 1963). "Revised Classification of 1500 Bright Galaxies". Astrophysical Journal Supplement. 8: 31. Bibcode:1963ApJS....8...31D. doi:10.1086/190084.
  12. ↑ Thim, Frank; et al. (June 2003), "The Cepheid Distance to NGC 5236 (M83) with the ESO Very Large Telescope", The Astrophysical Journal, 590 (1): 256–270, arXiv: astro-ph/0303101 , Bibcode:2003ApJ...590..256T, doi:10.1086/374888, S2CID   121984029
  13. ↑ Silva-Villa, E.; Larsen, S. S. (January 2012). "The relation between surface star formation rate density and spiral arms in NGC 5236 (M 83)". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 537: 9. arXiv: 1111.1249 . Bibcode:2012A&A...537A.145S. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201117432. S2CID   119295019. A145.
  14. ↑ "Stellar Birth in the Galactic Wilderness". 16 April 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  15. ↑ Dong, Hui; et al. (July 2008). "Spitzer Observations of Star Formation in the Extreme Outer Disk of M83 (NGC5236)". The Astronomical Journal. 136 (1): 479–497. arXiv: 0804.3632 . Bibcode:2008AJ....136..479D. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/136/1/479. S2CID   119189782.
  16. ↑ Transient Name Server entry for SN 1923A. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  17. ↑ Transient Name Server entry for SN 1945B. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  18. ↑ Transient Name Server entry for SN 1950B. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  19. ↑ Transient Name Server entry for SN 1957D. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  20. ↑ Romaniello, Martino; Patat, Ferdinando; Panagia, Nino; Sparks, William B.; Gilmozzi, Roberto; Spyromilio, Jason (August 2005), "Very Large Telescope FORS1 Imaging Polarimetry of M83 (NGC 5236). I. Search for Light Echoes from Historical Supernovae", The Astrophysical Journal, 629 (1): 250–258, arXiv: astro-ph/0505100 , Bibcode:2005ApJ...629..250R, doi:10.1086/431470, S2CID   118978264
  21. ↑ Transient Name Server entry for SN 1968L. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  22. ↑ Transient Name Server entry for SN 1983N. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  23. ↑ Karachentsev, I. D.; et al. (2002). "New distances to galaxies in the Centaurus A group". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 385 (1): 21–31. Bibcode:2002A&A...385...21K. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361:20020042 .
  24. ↑ R. B. Tully (1988). Nearby Galaxies Catalog. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-35299-4.
  25. ↑ Fouque, P.; Gourgoulhon, E.; Chamaraux, P.; Paturel, G. (1992). "Groups of galaxies within 80 Mpc. II – The catalogue of groups and group members". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement. 93: 211–233. Bibcode:1992A&AS...93..211F.
  26. ↑ Garcia, A. (1993). "General study of group membership. II – Determination of nearby groups". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement. 100: 47–90. Bibcode:1993A&AS..100...47G.
  27. ↑ Karachentsev, I. D. (2005). "The Local Group and Other Neighboring Galaxy Groups". Astronomical Journal. 129 (1): 178–188. arXiv: astro-ph/0410065 . Bibcode:2005AJ....129..178K. doi:10.1086/426368. S2CID   119385141.
  1. ↑ Its declination means every day it passes the zenith of the sky at the matching parallel of the earth, which is that of northern Argentina. It can be viewed more than an ideal 15° above the horizon for a further 75° to the north, placing such a northern limit of good observation at the 45th parallel north
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