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NGC253 on 2023-09-08_59 subs X 180 sec
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. NGC
253's starburst has created several super star clusters near NGC 253's center
(discovered with the aid of the Hubble Space Telescope): One such star cluster
has a mass of 1.5 million solar masses. An even more massive star cluster,
heavily obscured by NGC 253's interstellar dust, has a mass of about 14 million
solar masses. The super star clusters are arranged in an ellipse around the
center of NGC 253, which from the Earth's perspective appears as a flat line.
Star formation is also high in the northeast of NGC 253's disk, where many
red supergiant stars can be found. Other peculiarities found in NGC 253 suggest
that a gas-rich dwarf galaxy collided with it 200 million years ago, disturbing
its disk and starting the present starburst. NGC 253 is located about 10.89
million light-years from our Earth. Research suggests the presence of a
supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy with a mass estimated to be
about 5 million times that of our Sun.