IR/visible crossfade of the Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253)

This video fades back and forth between views of the Sculptor Galaxy (NGC 253) in visible and infrared light. The visible light view comes from the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at La Silla in Chile and the new infrared view from the VISTA telescope at Paranal. The dust and glowing star formation regions in the galaxy’s spiral arms are more prominent in the visible but the VISTA view reveals huge numbers of faint red stars and the central bar across the nucleus.