M83 is a bright face-on spiral galaxy with a star-like nucleus in Hydra, near the Centaurus border. Easily visible as a nebulus patch in a 6 x 30 finder, M83 is one of the best spiral galaxies in the southern sky. In an 8" telescope it appears as a large circular patch of light with a bright centre. In a 12" under dark skies, the spiral structure is very evident, making M83 a very impressive object.

43 minutes exposure, Fuji Super HG V 400 film. 300mm f/2.8 Pentax lens.

60 minutes exposure, Fuji Super HG V 400 film. 5" f/5 refractor at prime focus.

43 minutes exposure, Fuji Super HG V 400 film. 300mm f/6 newtonian telescope at prime focus.

30 minutes exposure, Fuji Provia 400 slide film. 300mm f/6 newtonian telescope at prime focus.

317 second exposure. Modified Canon Digital Rebel DSLR camera.
5" f/5 refractor at prime focus.

Combination of 10, 4 minute exposures. SBIG ST9XE CCD.
8" f/10 schmidt-cassegrain at prime focus.

Combination of 5, 2 minute exposures. Meade 416xt CCD.
300mm f/6 newtonian telescope, at prime focus.

Combination of 10, 3 minute exposures. SBIG ST9XE CCD.
300mm f/6 newtonian telescope at prime focus.

There are several other faint galaxies visible in the image. The two brightest are just to the left of M83. These are the 16th magnitude PGC 48132, with the fainter MAC 1337-2950A above it.

Combination of 20, 3 minute exposures, unfiltered,
15, 3 minute exposures using red and green filters,
and 18, 3 minute exposures using a blue filter.
SBIG ST8XE CCD camera. 300mm f/6 newtonian telescope at prime focus.

3 minute exposure, Meade 416xt CCD.
300mm f/18 cassegrain telescope, at prime focus.

Combination of 20, 3 minute exposures, SBIG STL-1001E CCD camera.
300mm f/18 cassegrain telescope at prime focus.

It is interesting to look at the structure deep within the nucleus. There are several bright regions which are either dense star clusters or HII regions.

Combination of 10, 3 minute images unfiltered.
LN2 cooled 2k x 2k CCD. 30" f/3.0 cassegrain telescope at prime focus.