Fact Sheet
Distant Pinwheel
The spiral galaxy M83 is the farthest object ever beheld by the unaided human eye. Estimates say it is 10 million to 15 million light-years away. Even so, some keen-eyed observers say they have seen it as a tiny smudge of light in the constellation Hydra. Like our own Milky Way, M83 is a spiral galaxy, although it is much smaller and contains fewer stars. [Bill Schoening/NOAO/AURA/NSF]
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