Overview

• ESO combined over 100 exposures from the Very Large Telescope in Chile to produce a false-color composite covering a 65,000-light-year section of NGC 253.
• The image isolates emissions from hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen to study star-forming regions at nearly individual star scales.
• Researchers identified 500 planetary nebulae within the galaxy, providing new data on its stellar life cycle and chemical enrichment.
• At 11 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation, the galaxy’s proximity and size make it ideal for resolving internal structures and overall morphology.
• The VLT is Europe’s flagship ground-based observatory and one of the world’s most advanced optical instruments for deep-space surveys.