Astronomy Picture of the Day · December 18, 2005

M83: The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy from VLT

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 18, 2005 is “M83: The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy from VLT,” an image. It is credited to Credit: FORS Team , 8.2-meter VLT , ESO. The original explanation runs about 126 words.

From the explanation

“M83 is one of the closest and brightest spiral galaxies on the sky. Visible with binoculars in the constellation of Hydra , majestic spiral arms have prompted its nickname as the Southern Pinwheel.”

— APOD editors, December 18, 2005

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date: December 18, 2005
Type: Image
Credit: Credit: FORS Team , 8.2-meter VLT , ESO
Copyright: No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length: About 126 words

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Topics in this entry

Galaxies

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 18 in other years

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Source

Astronomy Picture of the Day, December 18, 2005 — science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2005-december-18-m83-the-southern-pinwheel-galaxy-from-vlt

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.