NGC253: Also known as the "Sculptor Galaxy," this is an intermediate spiral (meaning between a barred-spiral and an unbarred-spiral) galaxy, presenting to us almost edge-on; it is visually within the constellation Sculptor. It is part of the Sculptor Group of galaxies (galaxies gravitationally bound to one another). The Sculptor Galaxy is a "starburst galaxy," which is a galaxy undergoing intense star formation (in this case mostly near its core). The bright blue dots are clusters of bright young stars. NGC253 is relatively close to us, about 11 million light years away. It measures about 70,000 light years across (about 70% of what our Milky Way measures); at that distance, it subtends an angle of 27.5 arcminutes.
This image contains over 31 hours of light-frame data.
Telescope: RC Optical Systems 14.5 inch Ritchey–Chrétien carbon fiber truss telescope, with ion-milled optics
Camera: SBIG STL11000M with internal color filter wheel (Astrodon Type II filter set)
Mount: Bisque Paramount ME German Equatorial Mount.
I've recently looked into astrophotography and learned how much effort and expense goes into achieving results such as this. Thanks for posting such a great image.
Your posts never disappoint. You put up some of the most spectacular images of galaxies. This one may be the most amazing one yet! Thanks so much for the effort you put into each of your images and sharing them with us!
