Article Posted on : - Jun 17, 2010

VISTA’s infrared view of the Sculptor Galaxy . Photo: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit.

CHILE (BNS): A spectacular new image of the Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253) has been taken with the ESO VISTA telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile as part of one of its first major observational campaigns.

The exclusive image taken by VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy) has revealed a myriad of cooler stars as well as a prominent bar of stars across the central region. The VISTA image has also provided much new information on the history and development of the galaxy, according to a news report by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

The Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253) lies in the constellation of the same name and is one of the brightest galaxies in the sky. It is prominent enough to be seen with good binoculars and was discovered by Caroline Herschel from England in 1783.

This spiral galaxy lies about 13 million light-years away. Seen from Earth, the galaxy is almost edge on, with the spiral arms clearly visible in the outer parts, along with a bright core at its centre.

VISTA, the latest addition to ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Chilean Atacama Desert, is the world’s largest survey telescope.

As VISTA works at infrared wavelengths it can see right through most of the dust that is such a prominent feature of the Sculptor Galaxy when viewed in visible light.

The spectacular viewing conditions VISTA shares with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), located on the next mountain peak, also allow VISTA images to be exceptionally sharp for a ground-based telescope.

With the help of this powerful instrument, scientists are currently studying the myriad of cool red giant stars in the halo that surrounds the galaxy, measuring the composition of some of NGC 253’s small dwarf satellite galaxies, and also searching for as yet undiscovered new objects such as globular clusters and ultra-compact dwarf galaxies.