Observe the majestic Southern Pinwheel Galaxy in this image from the Dark Energy Camera.
The stunning Southern Pinwheel Galaxy is one of the brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky.
At 12 million light-years away lies the stunning Messier 83 galaxy, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy. Its elegantly swirling spiral arms exhibit a remarkable rate of star formation and have been the site of six detected supernovae. This image was obtained with the Dark Energy Camera, developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, and mounted on the 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope, part of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.
A look at the image captured by the Dark Energy Camera reveals an impressive celestial view: the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky. Although its brightness allows it to be seen even with binoculars, the quality of detail in this image, produced by a powerful telescope, is astonishing. According to experts, the image shows the well-defined spiral arms of Messier 83, filled with pinkish clouds of hydrogen gas where new stars are forming. Among these pink regions, bright blue star clusters of young stars can be seen, which, due to their ultraviolet radiation, have dispersed the surrounding gas.
At the center of the galaxy, a yellow bulge made up of older stars is displayed, while a faint bar connects the spiral arms, facilitating the flow of gas from the outer regions toward the core. Additionally, the camera's sensitivity reveals the extended halo of Messier 83 and many more distant galaxies in the background. This galaxy is located in the constellation Hydra and has been captured in images by the Hubble Space Telescope, thanks to its large size and characteristic spiral shape.
The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, although not very extensive at approximately 50,000 light-years wide—almost half the size of the Milky Way—shines brightly due to its ongoing star formation activity. In these regions, old stars nearing the end of their life stages can also be found, and the galaxy has witnessed six supernova explosions in the last century. Furthermore, there are indications that it harbors hundreds of thousands of supernova remnants, the ghostly structures left behind after stellar explosions.
This remarkable phenomenon has led astronomers to study these bubbles to deepen their understanding of the stars that inhabited that area before their explosive end, dispersing material into the surrounding space.
