NGC 5253 is an irregular galaxy in the constellation Centaurus.

It was discovered by William Herschel on 15 March 1787.

[7] Two supernovae have been observed in NGC 5253: NGC 5253 contains a giant dust cloud hiding a cluster (believed to be a super star cluster) of more than one million stars, among them up to 7,000 O-type stars.

The cluster is 3 million years old and has a total luminosity of more than one billion suns.

It is the site of efficient star formation, with a rate at least 10 times higher than comparable regions in the Milky Way.