Southern Pinwheel Galaxy (M83) Observation Details
M83 Daily Motion
M83 will be visible until January, 1, when it will move too close to the Sun. During this time, its proximity to the Sun will cause it to disappear from the night sky, making it unobservable for a while.
M83 Visibility Timetable on May 15
M83 Rise and Set Timetable
| Time | Elevation | |
| M83 rise | 19:21 | |
| Sunset | 20:32 | 10° |
| Civil sunset | 21:03 | 14° |
| Astrosession begin | 22:18 | 20° |
| Moon Rise, 94.3% illuminated | 23:00 | 22° |
| M83 transit | 23:35 | 22° |
| M83 set | 03:49 | |
| Astrosession end | 04:36 | -8° |
| Moon Set | 08:01 | -46° |
Track M83 Position Throughout the Night
← Thu, 15 May 2025 →
| Time | |
| Altitude | |
| Azimuth |
M83 - Southern Pinwheel Galaxy
The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy (M83) is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Hydra. It was discovered by Nicolas Louis de Lacaille in 1752 and later cataloged by Charles Messier. M83 is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky.
M83 spans about 55,000 light-years across and contains a massive population of stars, gas, and dust. The galaxy is approximately 15 million light-years away from Earth and has an apparent magnitude of 7.5, making it visible with binoculars or a small telescope.
M83 Image Gallery
DSS Blue
DSS Red
DSS Near-Infrared
DSS Composite image
The photos are taken from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2), which was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) under NASA contract, using data from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Geographic Society-Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II).
Special thanks to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO), the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the California Institute of Technology for their significant contributions.
Finder Chart for M83
| Object name | M83 |
| Field of view | |
| Limiting magnitude | |
| M83 coordinates | 13.61693, -29.86542 |
| Center coordinates | 13.61693, -29.86542 |
M83 Passage Through Night
Current position of M83
| Time | 00:04 |
| Latitude | 37.751 |
| Longitude | -97.822 |
| M83 elevation | 22° |
| M83 Azimuth | 173° |
Annual motion of M83
| Date | Fri, 16 May 2025 |
| Twighlight start | 22:19 |
| Twighlight end | 04:34 |
| Twighlight duration | 6h 15m |
| Rise | 19:18 |
| Set | 03:45 |
| Elevation at transit | 22° |
| Transit time | 23:31 |
| Equatorial coordinates | RA: 13h 37m 00s", Dec: -29° 51' 55s |
| Magnitude | 7 |
| Constellation | Hydra |
The graph is structured with the vertical axis showing the hours of the day, ranging from 12 AM to 12 AM the next day, while the horizontal axis spans each day of the year.
The reddish shaded area indicates the periods when the M83 is above the horizon, visible to observers. The white line marks the times when the celestial object reaches its highest point in the sky each day, known as the transit.
Data Credits
The nebulae information on this page is sourced from the OpenNGC project, developed by Matteo Verga. OpenNGC provides detailed data on the NGC catalog, which is a valuable resource for exploring deep-sky objects such as nebulae.
For more details or to contribute to OpenNGC, visit the official GitHub repository: OpenNGC on GitHub.