Southern Pinwheel
M83, NGC 5236 · Galaxy in Hydra
- Magnitude
- 7.6
- Size
- 13′ × 12′
- Effective surface brightness
- 21.7 mag/arcsec²
- Best months
- Mar, Apr, May
- Declination
- -30°
- Filter
- None (broadband target)
A bright barred spiral, superb from the southern hemisphere and a low-altitude struggle from northern Europe.
Reachable from mid-northern latitudes (UK, northern US, central Europe) and from the south.
How long with each smart telescope
| Telescope | In frame | Bortle 3 (rural) | Bortle 5 (suburban) | Bortle 7 (urban edge) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZWO Seestar S5010 s subs | 30% | 19 min117 subs | 30 min182 subs | 1 h 18 min469 subs |
| ZWO Seestar S50 Pro10 s subs | 16% | 21 min129 subs | 33 min200 subs | 1 h 25 min511 subs |
| ZWO Seestar S3010 s subs | 18% | 22 min130 subs | 33 min196 subs | 1 h 20 min483 subs |
| ZWO Seestar S30 Pro10 s subs | 10% | 23 min138 subs | 35 min213 subs | 1 h 30 min540 subs |
| DwarfLab DWARF 315 s subs | 13% | 26 min104 subs | 43 min171 subs | 1 h 57 min467 subs |
| DwarfLab DWARF mini15 s subs | 18% | 19 min77 subs | 30 min121 subs | 1 h 18 min312 subs |
| DwarfLab Draco30 s subs | 17% | 16 min32 subs | 25 min50 subs | 1 h 05 min130 subs |
| DwarfLab DWARF II15 s subs | 12% | 1 h 23 min331 subs | 1 h 53 min452 subs | 4 h 06 min984 subs |
| Vaonis Vespera II10 s subs | 15% | 19 min117 subs | 30 min182 subs | 1 h 18 min469 subs |
| Vaonis Vespera Pro10 s subs | 13% | 47 min281 subs | 1 h 10 min419 subs | 2 h 50 min1,022 subs |
| Vaonis Vespera 310 s subs | 15% | 18 min111 subs | 29 min174 subs | 1 h 15 min449 subs |
| Vaonis Vespera Pro 210 s subs | 13% | 44 min266 subs | 1 h 06 min398 subs | 2 h 43 min978 subs |
| Unistellar eQuinox 24 s subs | 38% | 25 min372 subs | 32 min474 subs | 1 h 01 min921 subs |
| Unistellar Odyssey4 s subs | 39% | 2 h 10 min1,952 subs | 2 h 35 min2,324 subs | 4 h 23 min3,951 subs |
| Celestron Origin10 s subs | 25% | 5 min30 subs | 8 min47 subs | 21 min128 subs |
| Celestron Origin Mark II10 s subs | 29% | 6 min36 subs | 10 min63 subs | 30 min180 subs |
Imaging the galaxy
Galaxies are broadband targets: their light is mostly starlight spread across the spectrum, so a dual-band filter throws most of it away and makes things slower, not faster. Shoot without a filter (or with a plain UV/IR cut) and rely on total time and a dark sky. The core of a galaxy is usually many times brighter than its outer disc, so a short stack shows the nucleus long before the arms; the figures here are for the arms and disc, not the core.
Field rotation in Alt-Az mode crops the edges of the stack over a long session, so on a big galaxy re-centre now and then or use EQ mode where your scope supports it.
Per-telescope pages
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the ZWO Seestar S50
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the ZWO Seestar S30
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the DwarfLab DWARF 3
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the DwarfLab DWARF mini
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the DwarfLab Draco
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the DwarfLab DWARF II
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the Vaonis Vespera II
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the Vaonis Vespera Pro
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the Vaonis Vespera 3
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the Vaonis Vespera Pro 2
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the Unistellar eQuinox 2
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the Unistellar Odyssey
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the Celestron Origin
- How long to image the Southern Pinwheel with the Celestron Origin Mark II