Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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. 2024 February 15 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. NGC 253: Dusty Island Universe Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Steve Crouch Explanation: [5]Shiny NGC 253 is one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible, and also one of the dustiest. Some call it the Silver Coin Galaxy for its appearance in small telescopes, or just the Sculptor Galaxy for its location within the boundaries of the southern constellation Sculptor. Discovered in 1783 by mathematician and astronomer [6]Caroline Herschel, the dusty island universe lies a mere 10 million light-years away. About 70 thousand light-years across, NGC 253 is the largest member of the [7]Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest to our own [8]Local Group of Galaxies. In addition to its spiral dust lanes, tendrils of dust seem to be [9]rising from its galactic disk laced with young star clusters and star forming regions in [10]this colorful galaxy portrait. The high dust content accompanies frantic star formation, [11]earning NGC 253 the designation of a [12]starburst galaxy. NGC 253 is also known to be a strong source of high-energy [13]x-rays and [14]gamma rays, likely due to massive black holes near the galaxy's center. Tomorrow's picture: volcano world __________________________________________________________________ [15]< | [16]Archive | [17]Submissions | [18]Index | [19]Search | [20]Calendar | [21]RSS | [22]Education | [23]About APOD | [24]Discuss | [25]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell ([29]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [30]Specific rights apply. [31]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [32]ASD at [33]NASA / [34]GSFC, [35]NASA Science Activation & [36]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2402/ngc253_STXL6303_RC14_LHaRGB_2023.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://members.pcug.org.au/~stevec/ 5. http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n0253.html 6. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-caroline-herschel-female-astronomer-lacks.html 7. http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/sclgr.html 8. http://messier.seds.org/more/local.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110519.html 10. https://members.pcug.org.au/~stevec/ngc253_STXL6303_RC14_2023.htm 11. http://www.arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0509430 12. https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/1995/10/271-Image.html 13. http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2001/0012/index.html 14. https://www.nasa.gov/universe/nasa-missions-unmask-magnetar-eruptions-in-nearby-galaxies/ 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240214.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 24. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240215 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240216.html 26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 32. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 33. https://www.nasa.gov/ 34. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 35. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 36. http://www.mtu.edu/