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MESSIER OBJECT 83 - The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy. Located approximately 15 million light years distant towards the constellation Hydra, this galaxy is part of a small group that includes the peculiar radio galaxy Centaurus A - NCG 5128 and NGC 5253. This galaxy is a difficult target from mid-northern latitudes, so I had it on my "short list'' of objects to image during the Texas Star Party 2005. Because we had so much inclement weather, it turned out to be the only Deep Sky Object that I got to image during that trip. Notable features of this galaxy include the red knots scattered throughout the spiral arms. They are almost certainly diffuse emission nebulae very similar to our Milky Way's Orion or Lagoon Nebulae. These nebulae are stellar nurseries forming new stars. Also visible are a large population of recently formed blue stars (within the past several million years) closely concentrated along the spiral arms. We can also see an abundance of dark lanes extending from the outer reaches of the spiral arms right into the core. The core of the M 83 is made up of mostly older yellowish stars. Auto-guided L30/R20/G40/B20 with sub-exposures of 60 seconds in each data set. Data sets acquired with Maxim DL/CCD. ST-7ME/CFW-8a with Tru-Balance color filter set on my Takahashi FS 102 at f/8. Processed with median combine and dark frame subtraction in Maxim DL/CCD. Color combining and final processing in Photoshop CS. Imaged May 6th and 7th, 2005 at Zodiac Ranch Observatory, Ft. Davis TX
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