Outskirts of large galaxies contain important information about the galaxy
formation and assembly process, and resolved star count studies can probe the
extremely low surface brightness of the outer halos. We use images obtained
with the VISTA telescope to construct spatially resolved J vs Z-J
colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of NGC 253, a nearly edge-on disk galaxy in
the Sculptor group. The very deep photometry, down to J ~ 23.5, and the wide
area covered allows us to trace the red giant branch (RGB) and asymptotic giant
branch (AGB) stars that belong to the outer disk and the halo of NGC 253, out
to 50 kpc along the galaxy minor axis. We confirm the existence of an extra
planar stellar component of the disk, with a very prominent southern shelf and
a symmetrical feature on the north side. The only additional visible
sub-structure is an overdensity in the north-west part of the halo at about 28
kpc from the plane and extending over ~ 20 kpc parallel with the disk of the
galaxy. From the stellar count profile along the major axis we measure the
transition from the disk to the halo at a radial distance of about 25 kpc,
where a clear break appears in the number density profile. The isodensity
contours show that the inner halo is a flattened structure that blends with a
more extended, diffuse, rounder outer halo. Such external structure can be
traced to the very edge of our image out to 50 kpc from the disk plane. The
number density profile of the stars in the stellar halo follows a power law
with index -1.6, as function of radius. The CMD shows a very homogeneous
stellar population across the whole field; by comparison with theoretical
isochrones we conclude that the RGB stars are ~ 8 Gyr old or more, while the
AGB stars trace a population of about 2 x 10^8 Mo, formed from ~ 0.5 to a few
Gyr ago. Surprisingly, part of this latter population appears scattered over a
wide area.Comment: To appear on Astronomy and Astrophysic
