Editing Sculptor (constellation) (section)

==Notable features==
===Stars===
{{See also|List of stars in Sculptor}}
[[File:Curious spiral spotted by ALMA around red giant star R Sculptoris (data visualisation).jpg|thumb|Curious spiral around red giant star [[R Sculptoris]]<ref name=eso1239>{{cite news|title=Surprising Spiral Structure Spotted by ALMA|url=http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1239/|access-date=11 October 2012|newspaper=ESO Press Release}}</ref> ]]

No stars brighter than [[apparent magnitude|3rd magnitude]] are located in Sculptor. This is explained by the fact that Sculptor contains the [[Galactic coordinate system|south galactic pole]]<ref name=Blaauw1960>{{cite journal | title=The new IAU system of galactic coordinates (1958 revision) | first1=A. | last1=Blaauw | last2=Gum | first2=C.S. | last3=Pawsey | first3=J.L. | last4=Westerhout | first4=G. | date=1960 | journal=[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]] | volume=121 | number=2 | page=123 | bibcode=1960MNRAS.121..123B | doi=10.1093/mnras/121.2.123 | doi-access=free }}</ref> where stellar density is very low.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} Overall, there are 56 stars within the constellation's borders brighter than or equal to [[apparent magnitude]] 6.5.{{efn|1=Objects of magnitude 6.5 are among the faintest visible to the unaided eye in suburban-rural transition night skies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/resources/darksky/3304011.html?page=1&c=y|title=The Bortle Dark-Sky Scale|last=Bortle|first=John E.|date=February 2001|work=[[Sky & Telescope]]|publisher=Sky Publishing Corporation|access-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>}}<ref name=ridpathconst/>

The brightest star is [[Alpha Sculptoris]], an [[SX Arietis variable|SX Arietis-type]] [[variable star]] with a spectral type B7IIIp and an apparent magnitude of 4.3.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=Alpha+scl&NbIdent=1&Radius=2&Radius.unit=arcmin&submit=submit+id |title = Alpha Sculptoris– Rotationally Variable Star |work = SIMBAD Astronomical Database|publisher=Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg |access-date = 5 December 2013}}</ref> It is 780 ± 30 light-years distant from Earth.<ref name="vanLeeuwen2007">{{cite journal | first=F. | last=van Leeuwen | title=Validation of the New Hipparcos Reduction | journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics | volume=474 | issue=2 | pages=653–64 | date=2007 | bibcode=2007A&A...474..653V | doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20078357 | arxiv=0708.1752| s2cid=18759600 }}</ref>

[[Eta Sculptoris]] is a [[red giant]] of spectral type M4III that varies between magnitudes 4.8 and 4.9, pulsating with multiple periods of 22.7, 23.5, 24.6, 47.3, 128.7 and 158.7 days.<ref name=tabur>{{cite journal | title=Long-term photometry and periods for 261 nearby pulsating M giants | last1=Tabur |first1 =V. |last2=Bedding |first2=T. R. |author2-link= Tim Bedding|year=2009 |journal=[[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]] |volume= 400 | issue =4  |pages= 1945–61  |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15588.x  | doi-access=free |arxiv = 0908.3228 |bibcode = 2009MNRAS.400.1945T | s2cid=15358380 }}</ref> Estimated to be around 1,082 times as luminous as the Sun,<ref name=McDonald2012>{{cite journal | bibcode=2012MNRAS.427..343M | doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21873.x |title=Fundamental parameters and infrared excesses of ''Hipparcos'' stars| journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | volume=427 | pages=343–357 | year=2012 | last1=McDonald | first1=I. | last2=Zijlstra | first2=A. A. | last3=Boyer | first3=M. L. | issue=1 | doi-access=free |arxiv = 1208.2037 | s2cid=118665352 }} [http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR-4?-source=J/MNRAS/427/343/table2&HIP=2210 Vizier catalog entry]</ref> it is 460 ± 20 light-years distant from Earth.<ref name=Gaia-DR2eta>{{cite DR2|2315550051914701056}}</ref>

[[R Sculptoris]] is a red giant that has been found to be surrounded by spirals of matter likely ejected around 1800 years ago. It is 1,440 ± 90 light-years distant from Earth.<ref name=Gaia-DR2r>{{cite DR2|5016138145186249088}}</ref>

The [[Astronomical Society of Southern Africa]] in 2003 reported that observations of the [[Mira variable]] stars [[T Sculptoris|T]], [[U Sculptoris|U]], [[V Sculptoris|V]] and [[X Sculptoris]] were very urgently needed as data on their light curves was incomplete.<ref name=cooper>{{cite journal|last=Cooper|first=Tim|date=2003|title=Presidential address: Amateur Observations – Successes and Opportunities|journal=Monthly Notes of the Astronomical Society of Southern Africa|volume=62|pages=234–240|bibcode=2003MNSSA..62..234C}}</ref>

===Deep sky objects===
The constellation also contains the [[Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy|Sculptor Dwarf]], a [[dwarf galaxy]] which is a member of the [[Local Group]], as well as the [[Sculptor Group]], the group of galaxies closest to the Local Group. The [[Sculptor Galaxy]] (NGC 253), a [[barred spiral galaxy]] and the largest member of the group, lies near the border between Sculptor and [[Cetus]]. Another prominent member of the group is the [[irregular galaxy]] [[NGC 55]].

One unique galaxy in Sculptor is the [[Cartwheel Galaxy]], at a distance of 500 million [[light-years]]. The result of a [[galaxy merger|merger]] around 300 million years ago, the Cartwheel Galaxy has a core of older, yellow stars, and an outer ring of younger, blue stars, which has a diameter of 100,000 light-years. The smaller galaxy in the collision is now incorporated into the core, after moving from a distance of 250,000 light-years. The shock waves from the collision sparked extensive [[star formation]] in the outer ring.<ref>{{cite book |title = 300 Astronomical Objects: A Visual Reference to the Universe |first1 = Jamie |last1 = Wilkins |first2 = Robert |last2 = Dunn |publisher = Firefly Books |date = 2006 |location = Buffalo, New York |isbn = 978-1-55407-175-3}}</ref>