Astronomers have unveiled a stunningly detailed image of a nearby spiral galaxy, the Sculptor galaxy, glowing in a kaleidoscope of colors.
Captured by a telescope in Chile and released Wednesday, the panoramic image offers such rich detail that it’s already being used as a densely populated map of stars.
To create the shot, scientists at the European Southern Observatory spent about 50 hours observing the galaxy using the Very Large Telescope, compiling over 100 individual exposures. The resulting image spans nearly the entire galaxy—an impressive 65,000 light-years across. (For scale, one light-year equals 5.8 trillion miles.)
Known officially as NGC 253, Sculptor is classified as a starburst galaxy—meaning it’s teeming with intense star formation. Located 11 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Sculptor, it can be seen from the Southern Hemisphere with binoculars or a small telescope.
“The Sculptor galaxy is ideally positioned for study,” said lead researcher Enrico Congiu of the observatory. “It’s close enough for us to examine its internal structure in detail, yet large enough that we can view it as a complete system.”
