A galaxy blooming with new stars

ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) has captured the beauty of the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 253, located 11.5 million light-years away in the constellation of Sculptor. The new portrait is probably the most detailed wide-field view of this object and its surroundings ever taken. It is often just called the Sculptor Galaxy, although other descriptive names include the Silver Coin or Silver Dollar Galaxy.

Astronomers have noted the widespread active star formation in NGC 253 and labelled it a starburst galaxy. The many bright clumps dotting the galaxy are stellar nurseries where hot young stars have just ignited. The radiation streaming from these giant blue-white babies makes the surrounding hydrogen gas clouds glow brightly (green in this image).

Zooming into this new picture not only allows a very detailed inspection of the star-forming spiral arms of the galaxy to be made, but also reveals a very rich tapestry of much more distant galaxies far beyond NGC 253.