VISTA’s infrared view of the Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)

NGC 253 is one of the closest galaxies to our own. It is a bright spiral that lies about 13 million light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Sculptor and is noted for being a starburst galaxy with very vigorous star formation and very dusty spiral arms. In the infrared, the rich dust clouds in the galaxy’s spiral arms become nearly transparent and a whole host of cool red stars that are otherwise invisible can be seen. The VISTA infrared images were taken through Y, Z, J, Ksand narrowband filters. The field of view is about 38 by 25 arcminutes.

Crédit:

ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso1025a
Type:Observation
Date de publication:16 juin 2010 12:00
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso1025
Taille:6761 x 4501 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:NGC 253
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Spiral
Distance:13 million années lumière
Constellation:Sculptor
Catégorie:Galaxies

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
6,1 Mio
JPEG taille écran
143,1 Kio

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405,1 Kio
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485,3 Kio
2048x1536
675,7 Kio

Coordinates

Position (RA):0 47 30.12
Position (Dec):-25° 17' 22.08"
Field of view:38.44 x 25.59 arcminutes
Orientation:North is 43.2° left of vertical