NGC 5253

NGC 5253 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Centaurus. It was discovered by William Herschel on 15 March 1787.

Properties
NGC 5253 is located within the M83 Subgroup of the Centaurus A/M83 Group, a relatively nearby galaxy group that includes the radio galaxy Centaurus A and the spiral galaxy M83 (the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy). NGC 5253 is considered a dwarf starburst galaxy and also a blue compact galaxy.

Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 5253. SN 1895B (type unknown, mag. 8) was discovered on 7 July 1895. Supernova SN 1972E (type Ia, mag. 8.5), the second-brightest recent supernova visible from Earth, was discovered on 6 May 1972. With a peak apparent magnitude of 8.5, the only brighter supernova observed in the 20th century was SN 1987A.

Contents
NGC 5253 contains a giant dust cloud hiding a cluster (believed to be a super star cluster) of more than one million stars, among them up to 7,000 O-type stars. The cluster is 3 million years old and has a total luminosity of more than one billion suns. It is the site of efficient star formation, with a rate at least 10 times higher than comparable regions in the Milky Way.