Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Sculptor (Scl)  ·  Contains:  NGC 253  ·  Sculptor Filament  ·  Silver Coin
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NGC 253 - Sculptor Galaxy, also known as the Silver Coin, JOAO A MATTEI
NGC 253 - Sculptor Galaxy, also known as the Silver Coin
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NGC 253 - Sculptor Galaxy, also known as the Silver Coin

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NGC 253 - Sculptor Galaxy, also known as the Silver Coin, JOAO A MATTEI
NGC 253 - Sculptor Galaxy, also known as the Silver Coin
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 253 - Sculptor Galaxy, also known as the Silver Coin

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Description

The Sculptor Galaxy (also known as the Silver Coin, Silver Dollar Galaxy, NGC 253, or Caldwell 65) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor. The Sculptor Galaxy is a starburst galaxy, which means that it is currently undergoing a period of intense star formation.

The galaxy was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783 during one of her systematic comet searches. About half a century later, John Herschel observed it using his 18-inch metallic mirror reflector at the Cape of Good Hope. He wrote: "very bright and large (24′ in length); a superb object.... Its light is somewhat streaky, but I see no stars in it except 4 large and one very small one, and these seem not to belong to it, there being many near..."

Source: Wikipedia

As one of the brightest galaxies in the sky, the Sculptor Galaxy can be seen through binoculars.

esearch suggests the presence of a supermassive black hole in the center of this galaxy with a mass estimated to be 5 million times that of our Sun, which is slightly heavier than Sagittarius A.

A weighted average of the most reliable distance estimates gives a distance of 11.4 ± 0.7 Mly (3.5 ± 0.2 Mpc).

It was registered in 2020, May using my Remotely Controlled Observatory, located in Campos do Jordão, a beaultiful and small city in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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NGC 253 - Sculptor Galaxy, also known as the Silver Coin, JOAO A MATTEI