A galaxy that lies some sixteen million light years from the Solar System . Its name comes from a general resemblance to the northern Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major : both Pinwheels are spiral in form, and angled so that they appear face-on to an observer on Earth , but they are otherwise unrelated.
While the northern Pinwheel is a typical spiral galaxy , the Southern Pinwheel is a barred spiral . A weak but distinct bar of material runs through the galaxy's core , and from the ends of this bar extend two spiral arms that encircle the galaxy , in which several supernovae have been observed.
Imagery provided by Aladin sky atlas
The Southern Pinwheel is part of a group of galaxies that spreads southward from Virgo through Hydra and into Centaurus . This widely spread collection of galaxies is named the Centaurus A /M 83 Group , taking that name in part from this galaxy (whose number in the Messier Catalogue is M 83). It forms the core of a subgroup of galaxies within the larger group , a subgroup which may indeed be a separate cluster of galaxies in its own right.
In the skies of Earth , the Southern Pinwheel or M 83 lies in the constellation of Hydra the Sea Monster , at the point where the monster's tail interposes itself between Virgo and Centaurus .
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