The Sculptor Galaxy
NGC253 is most commonly known as the “Sculptor Galaxy,” because it’s found within the constellation Sculptor. You probably haven’t heard of Sculptor – that’s because it is considered a Southern-hemisphere constellation, and it’s only visible in the US from Southern states such as Florida.
It’s also known as the “Silver Coin Galaxy.” It’s part of a group of galaxies called the Sculptor Group, and is 10 million light-years away – which is pretty close by galactic standards.
The Sculptor Galaxy is a “starburst galaxy,” brimming with freshly formed stars, dust, and powerful black holes. You can see all the hot, blue star clusters within it clearly.
Total exposure time for this image was a little over 3 hours.
