Chandra Release - March 29, 2023 Visual Description: NGC 253 This release features an optical image of the spiral galaxy NGC 253, and a separate composite closeup of the galaxy's bright center. In both images, the galaxy is set against the blackness of space, which is dotted with specks of light. From a distance, spiral galaxies appear round and flat, like disks. Here, NGC 253's flat edge is shown, not its round face. In the primary image, the galaxy resembles the edge of a dinner plate made of gold and silver clouds, tilted diagonally from our upper left to our lower right. The galaxy appears bright and dense near the center, and thinner near the veiny outer rim. Tiny specks of neon pink appear throughout the golden core and silver edges. A closeup of the galaxy's center is presented in a separate, composite image. In this composite rendering, the heart of the galaxy is shown in a variety of colors. At the center is a misty, neon pink blob with a brilliant white core. This is a galactic wind of extremely hot gas, detected by Chandra's X-ray Observatory. Surrounding the misty neon pink blob is a cyan, or greenish-blue, swirl, and mottled burnt orange and red clouds. The swirling cyan represents visible light data and the burnt orange represents hydrogen emissions, both from the Kitt Peak National Observatory. The red represents infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. This composite closeup shows hot winds blowing in opposite directions away from the center of the galaxy. These powerful winds are spreading stellar material to the galaxy's next generation of stars and planets.