Around the compact nucleus of NGC 300
AAO image reference AAT 57.    « Previous || Next »

NGC 300 nucleus, Sculptor group galaxy, ngc300.jpg
Top left is NE. Image width is about 8.5 arc min
Image and text © 1991-2002, Anglo-Australian Observatory, photograph by David Malin.


At the centre of the spiral arms of NGC 300 is an unusually compact, star-like nucleus. It is surrounded by a faint but extensive yellow haze, consisting of millions of faint, cool stars. This is the older population, or 'bulge' of NGC 300, a distant equivalent to the (much more numerous) stars that we see in our own galaxy as the brightest part of the Milky Way in Sagittarius.

This picture was made from the same set of three plates that were used for AAT 56 and AAT 56a and shows that the inner parts of the galaxy contain many compact clusters of bright stars and their associated nebulae.

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, vgpmbM

More 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 56a.  Sculptor group galaxy NGC 300, wide field view
n0300_d    NGC 300, deep image

For details of photographic exposure, search technical table by AAT reference number.

galaxies | emission neb. | reflection neb. | dark neb. | planetaries | clusters | stars | supernovae
50 Favorites | Messier objects | DMI | Repro conditions | AAO images page | AAO site overview