AAO image reference AAT 56a. « Previous || Next »
Top left is NE. Image width is about 40 arc min
Image and text © 2001-2002, Anglo-Australian Observatory, photograph by David Malin.
NGC 300 is among the least conspicuous members of a sparse cluster of galaxies that are scattered across the south galactic pole, which is why there are so few stars visible in this wide field view. The three photographic plates from which this picture was made have been specially enhanced to emphasise the delicate outer structure of the galaxy, revealing that the light of the spiral arms is dominated by young, blue stars. Here and there along the arms, indeed largely responsible for defining them, are denser clumps of stars, some still associated with the gas from which they formed. Many stars are clearly visible as individuals, for the Sculptor Group is relatively nearby, about 8 million light years away.
Entry from NGC 2000.0 (R.W. Sinnott, Ed.) © Sky Publishing Corporation, 1988:
NGC 300 Gx 00 54.9 -37 41 s Scl 20.09. p pB, vL, vmiE, vgpmbMMore data about this galaxy is accessible from the hotlinked NGC name and is reproduced
with permission from the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED).
Related Images
AAT 56. Sculptor group galaxy NGC 300
AAT 57. Around the nucleus of NGC 300
n0300_d NGC 300, deep image
For details of photographic exposure, search technical table by AAT reference number.