Behold: NGC 253, otherwise known as the ’Silver Coin Galaxy’ – one of the brightest visible spiral galaxies and also the dustiest. To wit:
…it is more formally known as the Sculptor Galaxy for its location within the boundaries of the southern constellation Sculptor. Discovered in 1783 by mathematician and astronomer Caroline Herschel, the dusty island universe lies a mere 10 million light-years away. About 70 thousand light-years across, NGC 253, pictured, is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of Galaxies, the nearest to our own Local Group of galaxies. In addition to its spiral dust lanes, tendrils of dust seem to be rising from a galactic disk laced with young star clusters and star forming regions in this sharp colour image. The high dust content accompanies frantic star formation, earning NGC 253 the designation of a starburst galaxy. NGC 253 is also known to be a strong source of high-energy x-rays and gamma rays, likely due to massive black holes near the galaxy’s centre.
(Image: NAOJ: Subaru, NASA & ESA: Hubble, ESO: VLT & Danish 1.5-m; Processing & Copyright: Robert Gendler & Roberto Colombari)