| NGC 253 Sculptor Galaxy (Silver Dollar
Galaxy) NGC 253 is a galaxy in the constellation Sculptor near the Cetus border. This is a large spiral galaxy 10.4 million light years distant at -25° Dec. Its has an overall brightness of magnitude 7 and sets very low in the sky from observing sites in Oregon. It is fairly large at 22' x 6' and show up well in a 6" telescopes with larger apertures really revealing detail. NGC 253 is a member of the "Sculptor Group of galaxies or the " Southern Galactic Pole Group',. This small group cover approximately 20° with NGC 45, 55, 300,7793 and NGC247 in Cetus. This group is not well place for viewing from the United States. I was very happy to finally capture this galaxy from Oregon, while looking through lots of atmosphere the image still came out well. |
| Telescope / Lens | TEC 140mm f/7 |
| Mount Type | Astro-Physics 1200 |
| Camera | ST10XME |
| Filters | Astro-Don LRGB |
| Film | CCD |
| Exposure | LRGB 170 minuets -20° C |
| Processing | CCDSoft, AIP4Win, CCDStack & Photoshop CS2 |
| Date | 9-04-2008 |
| Location | Near Snow Peak Mountain, SE of Cottage Grove, Oregon 122° 52.59 , W 43° 31.41' N |
| Conditions | 3568' magnitude 6.0 Skies; Clear, Breezy (protected site) |