The Sculptor galaxy (also known as Ngc 253, the Silver Dollar galaxy and Caldwell 65) is an intermediate spiral galaxy visible in the Sculptor constellation, and is also a star-forming galaxy, i.e. a galaxy with a very high rate of star formation.
The many bright clusters scattered around the galaxy are stellar nurseries where hot young stars have just ignited. The radiation emanating from these giant blue-white ‘babies’ causes the surrounding clouds of ionised hydrogen to glow brightly.
To date, measurements not based on redshift give a distance of around 10.5 million light-years.
Photo taken at El Sauce, Chile, from 09/08 to 05/10/2024.
Set-up: Planewave CDK 14 on Mathis Mi 500/750 mount, C4 CMOS 36×36 camera.
44 hours of exposure in L,R,G,B,Ha,O3
PixinSight-Photoshop processing