Panning across the southern spiral NGC 300

This sequence gives a close-up view of a spectacular image of the southern spiral galaxy NGC 300 that was taken was taken using the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. Huge numbers of the galaxy’s component stars are visible across the entire image and much detail can be seen in the red and pink star-forming clouds of dust and gas that mark out the galaxy’s ragged spiral arms.