Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

M83: The Thousand-Ruby Galaxy

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 27, 2008 is “M83: The Thousand-Ruby Galaxy,” an image. It is credited to Color Composite: Davide De Martin ( Skyfactory ) Credit: European Southern Observatory Science Archive. The original explanation runs about 149 words.

M83: The Thousand-Ruby Galaxy
Credit: Color Composite: Davide De Martin ( Skyfactory ) Credit: European Southern Observatory Science Archive Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the 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 of the Southern Pinwheel.”

— APOD editors, September 27, 2008

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
September 27, 2008
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Color Composite: Davide De Martin ( Skyfactory ) Credit: European Southern Observatory Science Archive
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 149 words

All of September 2008 → · 2008 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

GalaxiesStar clusters

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: September 27 in other years

On Amazon

Popular picks for space fans

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Electronics Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 32GB Read astronomy and space-history books anywhere. View on Amazon → Electronics Bose QuietComfort Wireless Headphones Noise-cancelling headphones for documentaries and launch livestreams. View on Amazon →

Source

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.