Astronomy Picture of the Day- Government shutdown so no APOD Today. I will dig up some of my favorites - M83: The Thousand-Ruby Galaxy

NASA ^ | 8 Oct, 2025 | Image Credit: Subaru Telescope (NAOJ), Hubble Space Telescope, European Southern Observatory - Proce

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: Big, bright, and beautiful, spiral galaxy M83 lies a mere twelve million light-years away, near the southeastern tip of the very long constellation Hydra. Prominent spiral arms traced by dark dust lanes and blue star clusters lend this galaxy its popular name, The Southern Pinwheel. But reddish star forming regions that dot the sweeping arms highlighted in this sparkling color composite also suggest another nickname, The Thousand-Ruby Galaxy. About 40,000 light-years across, M83 is a member of a group of galaxies that includes active galaxy Centaurus A. In fact, the core of M83 itself is bright at x-ray energies, showing a high concentration of neutron stars and black holes left from an intense burst of star formation. This sharp composite color image also features spiky foreground Milky Way stars and distant background galaxies. The image data was taken from the Subaru Telescope, the European Southern Observatory's Wide Field Imager camera, and the Hubble Legacy Archive.

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

[MtnClimber]

To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[telescope115]

That’s a good name for it!

[Doctor Congo]

That’s really pretty.

[Doctor Congo]

Webb uncovers possible hidden supermassive black hole in nearby spiral galaxy M83

https://esawebb.org/news/weic2509/
M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy, has long been an enigma. While massive spiral galaxies often host AGNs, astronomers have struggled for decades to confirm one in M83. Previous observations hinted that if a supermassive black hole existed there, it must be dormant or hidden behind thick dust. Now, Webb’s unprecedented sensitivity and spatial resolution have unveiled signs that suggest otherwise.

“Our discovery of highly ionised neon emission in the nucleus of M83 was unexpected,” said Svea Hernandez, lead author of the new study with AURA for the European Space Agency at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, USA. “These signatures require large amounts of energy to be produced—more than what normal stars can generate. This strongly suggests the presence of an AGN that has been elusive until now.”

[Diogenesis]

[JPG]

And how many sentient beings in that galaxy are now looking at a picture of the Milky Way?

[LonePalm]

I just stumbled across this and thought you might like it.

NASA Releases 20 Jaw-Dropping New Images for the First Time

SpyNavy

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[MtnClimber]

Thanks, those were some interesting photos.