Internet Encyclopedia of Science
GALAXIES
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Sculptor Group


Sculptor Galaxy
The Sculptor Galaxy. This image of spiral galaxy NGC 253 was taken with the National Science Foundation's Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Credit: T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, T. Abbott and NOAO / AURA / NSF
The nearest group of galaxies to the Local Group; it lies at a distance of 4 to 10 million light-years in the constellation Sculptor.

The Sculptor Group is dominated by five galaxies, four spiral – NGC 247, 253, 300, and 7793 – and one irregular, NGC 55, which is the nearest and lies on the border between the Sculptor Group and our own. The brightest of the five is NGC 253, also known as the Silver Coin Galaxy or the Sculptor Galaxy, a beautiful edge-on spiral which is also a starburst galaxy. NGC 253 was also one of the major discoveries of Caroline Herschel (Sep. 23, 1783).

The Sculptor Group lies around the south galactic pole and is sometimes called the South Polar Group.


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