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Picture of the month
This image captures the stunning detail of NGC 253, one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the sky and a favorite target for astrophotographers. Located about 11 million light-years away in the constellation Sculptor, NGC 253 is often called the “Silver Coin Galaxy” for its striking, coin-like appearance.
A starburst galaxy, NGC 253 is teeming with regions of intense star formation, visible as dusty lanes and glowing pink nebulae scattered across its spiral arms. Its mottled structure and intricate dark dust bands reveal a galaxy both active and turbulent, shaped by stellar winds and supernovae.
Framed here in rich detail, the galaxy’s elongated disk stretches gracefully across space, a shining island of hundreds of billions of stars beyond our Milky Way.
Photo by Matthias Krieger
