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Observing Messier 83 (M83)
Messier 83 or M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5236, is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 15 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation borders of Hydra and Centaurus. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on 17 February 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope.
What Messier 83 is
Messier 83 or M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5236, is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 15 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation borders of Hydra and Centaurus. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on 17 February 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope. Charles Messier added it to his catalogue of nebulous objects in March 1781.
How to observe it
This is a fainter target that rewards aperture and dark skies. A 150 mm or larger telescope from a site away from town lights shows it best, and averted vision helps.
It lies in the constellation Hydra. To find it, learn the constellation first, then star-hop from its brighter stars with a finder or a wide-field eyepiece before switching to more magnification.
Magnification is your telescope's focal length divided by your eyepiece's focal length. For an extended object like this, start low to frame it, then step up in power only if the object takes it. Use the Fit My Telescope tool to see the exact magnification, true field and exit pupil each of your eyepieces gives.
How it looks at the eyepiece
What you see at the eyepiece is fainter and less colourful than a photograph, because the eye takes in light in an instant while a camera builds it up over minutes. Expect a grey glow rather than the vivid colours of an image, and let your eyes dark-adapt for at least twenty minutes to see the most.
Frame it at low to medium power first with a wide true field, then step up the magnification only if the object stays sharp and the sky is steady. The Fit My Telescope tool shows the magnification, true field of view and exit pupil each of your eyepieces gives in your telescope, so you can pick the one that frames the object best.
The object in NASA imagery
NASA has imaged this object. One example in the NASA Image and Video Library is titled Ultraviolet Extensions, from JPL.
This ultraviolet image from NASA Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows the Southern Pinwheel galaxy, also know as Messier 83 or M83. It is located 15 million light-years away in the southern constellation Hydra.
NASA imagery is in the public domain. What you see through an eyepiece is fainter and mostly grey, since the eye does not accumulate light the way a long-exposure camera does, but knowing an object's true shape helps you recognise it at the telescope.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Object type | spiral galaxy |
| Constellation | Hydra |
| Apparent magnitude | 7.5 |
| Catalogue | Messier 83 (M83) |
Object data from Wikidata (CC0) and standard Messier catalogues.
What magnification suits M83?
Open the Fit My Telescope toolSee the true field and exit pupil each eyepiece givesFind telescope eyepiece on eBayaffiliateRelated
Sources: Messier 83 (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA) · Wikidata (CC0) · NASA Image and Video Library: PIA10374 (public domain)