Messier 83 or M83, also known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy and NGC 5236, is a barred spiral galaxy[7] approximately 15 million light-years away in the constellation borders of Hydra and Centaurus. Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille discovered M83 on 17 February 1752 at the Cape of Good Hope.[8]Charles Messier added it to his catalogue of nebulous objects (now known as the Messier Catalogue) in March 1781.[8]

It is one of the closest and brightest barred spiral galaxies in the sky, and is visible with binoculars.[9]  It has an isophotal diameter at about 36.24 kiloparsecs (118,000 light-years). Its nickname of the Southern[a] Pinwheel derives from its resemblance to the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101).

M83 is a massive, grand design spiral galaxy.[10] Its morphological classification in the De Vaucouleurs system is SAB(s)c,[2] where the 'SAB' denotes a weak-barred spiral, '(s)' indicates a pure spiral structure with no ring, and 'c' means the spiral arms are loosely wound.[11] The peculiar dwarf galaxy NGC 5253 lies near M83,[12] and the two likely interacted within the last billion years resulting in starburst activity in their central regions.[10]

The star formation rate in M83 is higher along the leading edge of the spiral arms, as predicted by density wave theory.[13]NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer project on 16 April 2008 reported finding large numbers of new stars in the outer reaches of the galaxy—20 kpc from the center. It had hitherto been thought that these areas lacked the materials necessary for star formation.[14][15]

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Messier 83 is more than a dazzling display of lights and stardust. In its vicinity, it contains numerous distant celestial bodies, each with unique stories, stretching from hundreds of millions to over two billion light-years away. These galaxies serve as both markers and gateways to the ancient history of the universe.

Among these far-flung destinations, PRC-C47 is one of the closer entities, a galaxy suspended in the void at 673 million light-years away. The photons that we now capture from this distant galaxy began their voyage towards us around 650 million years ago, during the late Precambrian on Earth. Back then, our planet was gripped by the profound chill of the Cryogenian Period, encapsulated in ice sheets that perhaps touched every shore. The "Snowball Earth," as it was, bore a stark and frozen landscape where life teetered on the brink in an environment almost inhospitable. Contrast this ancient frozen tableau with today’s vibrant Earth, a lush and bustling planet teeming with biodiversity and crowned with a tapestry of cultures, civilizations, and technologies. From the icy grip of a snowball to the warm embrace of life's myriad forms, Earth has traversed an immense journey of transformation.

Venturing further into the cosmos, we encounter WISEA J133806.21-294436.6, the most remote galaxy in Messier 83's reach, situated a staggering 2.858 billion light-years from us. The light from this galaxy left its starry cradle when the Earth was just rounding the corner of its youth, during the Archean Eon, 2.8 billion years ago. Our planet then was a world unrecognizable to modern eyes—dominated by volatile volcanic landscapes and a primordial ocean teeming with the first whispers of life. The atmosphere, devoid of oxygen, was a cocktail of methane, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. It was a time when life existed but in the simplest forms, primarily as microbial mats that clustered around hydrothermal vents, drawing energy from the Earth’s fiery breath. This primitive life laid down the foundations for the oxygen-rich atmosphere we depend on today. From those humble beginnings, Earth evolved to become a cradle for complex life, illustrating a profound arc of biological and atmospheric evolution.

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