M83 ????

I'm very curious about objects that are too far south to be observed from my location. Of course, we have the famous wonders of the southern sky like the Magellanic clouds, the Jewel box and the Eta Carinae nebula complex.

But I'm also interested in objects that can't be observed from here, but are within range for observers in Southern Europe and the US. Have anyone observed M83 recently? How does this galaxy compare with the great spirals of Canes Venatici and Ursa Major?

Any reports about NGC4038/39? What about NGC5128? Which is the smallest aperture needed to see the dust lane in this galaxy?

Come on, guys!

Inge S

Hi Inge,

My first thought when I read your post was "What great spirals in Canes Venatici and Ursa Major?".

M83 is a very easy binocular object from Oz. In an 8" - 10" it appears as an almost circular "fuzz", surrounding a very bright central core. In a 12", some spiral structure becomes evident. It appears a little brighter than M51, but the spiral structure is not so evident. For mine, the best southern galaxies for seeing spiral structure are NGC 1365 in Fornax and NGC 1566 in Dorado. There are many others as well though.

It has been quite a while since I observed NGC 4038/39, but from memory it appeared as 2 moderately faint sumdges in contact.

I have seen the dust lane in NGC 5128 with 80mm binoculars. This was from a location where the galaxy was visible to the naked eye.

Regards,

Maurice

Inge,

I was going to take a look for M83 with my 90mm or 4.5" - whenever the sky clears up! It better hurry up, though, the moon is coming around to new again.

I'll let you all know if I see it!

RW

Hi Inge

First congratulations on the new job! It should be fun!

I've observed 4038/39 several times with a 5", 14.5" and 20". They're much easier to see than 5128 due to their height above the horizon. They form a "V" shape that looks cooler with the larger apertures. I always wonder what the night sky on a planet in 4038 would look like. How much of the sky would 4039 take up?

Thanks
Bill

Ok, well, M83 from 32* N in my 20" scope is just spectacular. A real showpiece. The core and the bars are very bright exibiting some detail on nights of good seeing. Then from the bars are the fairly dim spiral arms. However they can be seen to each wrap around a hemisphere of the galaxy. It think it is the finest eyepiece example of a barred spiral. I make it a point to observe M83 whenever it is visible, it is that good. I would put it on par with M51 for sure. The rich foreground starfield adds to the beauty of this object.

NGC 5128 and its huge dark lane is observable through my 4" refractor. I would classify it as a very bright object and the dark lane as "very apparant" much more so than the lanes of NGC 891 and NGC 4565. In the 20" I can catch fleeting fine detail in the dark lane however I bet its an incredible sight from the southern latitudes. Of course right next door is Omega Centauri and all I can say about that is........whoa!!!!!! Makes M13 look like a dim fuzzy.

Funny you should ask. I recently realized that I had never found this galaxy for myself. On April 8, 2005, in Stonelick State Park near Cincinnati, in typically hazy southern Ohio skies, I looked for it in my 11 inch Dob and couldn't find it. My notes say: M83 Not seen. Described in RASC as large and diffuse, difficult from northern latitudes. Scott found M83 for me later with the 16 inch Dob and it seemed like a star, bright center, only small faint arms seen uinder high mag. I must have been looking under too low mag and didn’t recognize it in the field.
About a week later I found it. My notes from May 10, 2005 shows that I found it, low to the horizon in the haze, visible as a dim hazy spot, with no detail seen of bars or arms, but definitely larger than the stars near it and in the right place in relation to the neighboring stars in my SA2000 chart.
I was very surprised to learn later what an impressive galaxy this is, when seen in a dark sky with a medium sized or larger scope and especially from a southern location.
Clear skies,
Bill Meyers