Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 April 14

                       NGC 253: The Silver Coin Galaxy
      Image Credit: NOAJ: Subaru, NASA & ESA: Hubble, ESO: VLT & Danish
                                   1.5-m;
         Processing & Copyright: Robert Gendler & Roberto Colombari

   Explanation: NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible,
   but also one of the dustiest. Dubbed the Silver Coin for its appearance
   in smalltelescopes, it is more formally known as the Sculptor Galaxy
   for its location within the boundaries of the southern constellation
   Sculptor. Discovered in 1783 by mathematician and astronomer Caroline
   Herschel, the dusty island universe lies a mere 10 million light-years
   away. About 70 thousand light-years across, NGC 253, pictured, is the
   largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest to our
   own Local Group of galaxies. In addition to its spiral dust lanes,
   tendrils of dust seem to be rising from a galactic disk laced with
   young star clusters and star forming regions in this sharp color image.
   The high dust content accompanies frantic star formation, earning NGC
   253 the designation of a starburst galaxy. NGC 253 is also known to be
   a strong source of high-energy x-rays and gamma rays, likely due to
   massive black holes near the galaxy's center. Take a trip through
   extragalactic space in this short video flyby of NGC 253.

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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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