Southern Pinwheel Galaxy

Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, also known as the M83, is a barred spiral galaxy located in the southern constellation Hydra. Messier 83 was the first galaxy to be discovered outside the Local Group and the third of all galaxies, after the Andromeda Galaxy and it's follower M32, both located in the constellation Andromeda.

Until recently, the outer regions of M83 were believed to lack star forming material. However, on June 16, 2008, NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer detected large numbers of very young, newly formed stars in these regions.  Observations with the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed that the galaxy’s core has a double nucleus, a feature it shares with the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). This does not mean that M83 has two supermassive black holes at its centre, but possibly that the central black hole may be surrounded by an orbiting disk of stars which gives the appearance of a dual core.

The photo was taken in Namibia, on an astrophotography tour. The namibian skies allows us to capture the beauty of the southern sky. The photo was taken over two nights.