| Abstract | The method developed by Issa (1979) is used to obtain the size distribution of dark clouds in NGC 253, and from this value the distance and amount of interstellar dust in NGC 253 are evaluated. The areas of 267 dark clouds were measured by examining a photocopy of the galaxy in the Hubble atlas with a magnifying glass combined with a lattice-engraved foil. The size distribution obeys the same exponential formula found for the galaxies NGC 3031, 5128, 5194, and 5457. From the apparent size distribution of the clouds the distance to the galaxy is found to be 2.06 Mpc, and the amount of dust is found to be 44,000,000 solar masses. |
