Color composite image of the central region of NGC 253

Color composite image of the central region of NGC 253, from Flamingos 2 images using the filters J (blue), H (green) and Ks (red). This region of the edge-on viewed galaxy appears completely veiled in optical images due to the presence of large amounts of dust (so dense that it is still obscuring some regions at the near-infrared spectral range). The wavelength range covered by F-2 goes from 1 to 2.5 μm. The field of view is 420 x 144 arcseconds.