Messier 83 "The Colorful Cosmos Series Begins"
M 83 Located some 15 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra (The Sea Serpent) is one of the highlights of the Southern sky, often referred to as the Southern Pinwheel. It’s one of the largest and closest barred spirals galaxies to us. It has hosted many supernova explosions. At least six (likely 7)of these were observed supernovae and nearly 300 supernovae remnants.
Its center is mysterious and unusual; the supermassive black hole at its heart is not alone. This striking galaxy displays a phenomenon known as a double nucleus. The double Nucleus does not mean it has 2 black holes but rather a single supermassive black hole with a large lopsided disk of stars orbiting which makes it look like dual nucleus.
M 83 has a "bar" of stars slicing through its center, leading to its classification as a barred spiral. Our own Milky Way also belongs to this category as well. These bars are thought to act a bit like a Chanel, funneling gas inwards towards the galaxy's core. This gas is then used to form new stars that feed the galaxy's black hole.
Here we see the Hydrogen channel only Where the detail Is quite different from the color channels. This was continuum subtracted from the red channel to give a much more realistic view.
Image Processing and Calibration: Mark Hanson, Alexandr Zaytsev
24" Planewave CDK f6.5 and L600 Mount, Camera SBIG 16803 Location: SWOS, El Sauce Chile
Data Collection: Hanson, Mazlin, Parker, Forman 2023
Enjoy,
Mark
You can see the new video here:
This was continuum subtracted from the red channel to give a much more realistic view.
HA only
Messier 83 From 1 Meter
One of the highlights of the Southern sky, M83 is often referred to as the Southern Pinwheel.
It is a colorful barred spiral starburst galaxy located only 15 million light years away in Hydra.
M83 has an unusual double nucleus and houses a super massive black hole at its center apparently surrounded by an asymmetric disc of stars. It has also been the home of at least six observed supernovae and nearly 300 supernovae remnants have been identified.
Imaged in LRGB and H alpha on our PlaneWave CDK 1000 at Observatorio El Sauce, Chile.
Image Processing: Mike Selby and Mark Hanson
Enjoy, Mark and Mike
