M83: A Barred Spiral Galaxy
Credit & Copyright: David Malin
(AAO),
AATB
Explanation:
M83 is a bright
spiral galaxy
that can be found with a small telescope in the
constellation of
Hydra.
It takes light about 15 million years to reach us from
M83.
M83 is quite a typical spiral - much like our own
Milky Way
Galaxy. Spiral galaxies contains
many billions of stars, the youngest of which inhabit the spiral
arms and glow strongly in blue light.
Dark
dust
lanes are mixed in with the stars and help define
M83's
marked spiral structure.
The space between the spiral arms is
also filled with stars - but stars that are typically more dim
and red.
The stars and gas in spiral arms seem to be responding to
much more mass than is visible here,
implying that galaxies are predominantly
composed of some sort of
dark matter. Finding the nature of this
dark matter remains one of the great challenges of
modern science.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
