Twelve million light-years away lies the galactic masterpiece Messier 83, also known as the Southern ... \[+\] Pinwheel Galaxy. Its swirling spiral arms display a high rate of star formation and host six detected supernovae. This image was captured with the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.
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One of the highest-resolution cameras in astronomy has been used to capture a distant star-producing spiral galaxy in exquisite detail.
The image shows the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as M83, which is 12 million light-years away from the solar system.
The galaxy is known for its striking spiral arms and for being hugely prolific in producing new stars.
The new image reveals vibrant pink hydrogen gas clouds where new stars are forming, bright blue clusters of young stars, and an older yellow central bulge.
Spanning 50,000 light-years, it showcases a dynamic past likely shaped by a merger with another galaxy.
In 2006, astronomers found a mysterious second nucleus at the core of M83. It’s thought to be the remnant of a collision with another galaxy. Both nuclei likely contain black holes. The collision is likely the reason for M83’s intense starburst activity.
Supernova Factory
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As well as lots of new stars, astronomers think that M83 hosts a lot of dying stars, too. Six supernovae have been detected and it’s thought that the galaxy hosts hundreds of thousands of supernova remnants.
M83 was discovered in 1752 by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille during his expedition to the Cape of Good Hope, and later cataloged by Charles Messier in 1781.
This excerpt shows some of the interesting features in the image of the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy ... \[+\] taken with the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, which is mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.
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The stunning image was taken using the 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera — also known as DECam — which is mounted on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert. A program of NSF NOIRLab, scientists are using DECam to construct the biggest 3D map of the night sky ever made.
Rubin Observatory
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Cerro Tololo hosts the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which, starting in 2025, will employ the largest camera ever built to capture images of the entire Southern Hemisphere night sky every three nights. This innovative initiative, known as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), aims to detect all moving objects in the night sky, including supernovae, comets, and asteroids.
_Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes._