The first galaxy to be discovered, outside of the local group, M83 was first catalogued as Lac.I.6 by Nicholas Louis de la Caille from his Cape of Good Hope observatory in 1752. It was re-catalogued by Charles Messier in 1781 who, observing from Paris, noted “it appears as a faint & even glow, but it is difficult to see in the telescope, as the least light to illuminate the micrometer wires makes it disappear. One is only able with the greatest concentration to see it at all”.
This monochrome image is a stack of 10 2 minute exposures using GRAS-15 in Australia processed in Maxim DL. Despite the near full moon this image clearly shows the dust lanes that wind their way down the spiral arms to the compact nucleus.