NGC 253

NGC 253 is one of brightest spiral galaxies in the night sky, easily visible with small telescopes. The galaxy is composed of thousands of young, blue stars and shows intense star formation activity. NGC 253 is the dominant galaxy in the Sculptor Group of galaxies and is located about 13 million light-years from Earth.

This image was captured by the sharp ‘eye’ of Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, which is able to show individual stars. The dark filaments are clouds of dust and gas.