The MUSE view of the Sculptor

High spatial resolution integral field observations of nearby galaxies revolutionized the field of galaxy evolution in the last decade. We moved from an object-based approach to the study of galaxies, to a cloud-based approach where we could start to explore how local processes (e.g. star formation) can shape entire galaxies. However, most of current data cannot resolve the scales (~ 10 pc or less) at which these physical processes take place. Observations that can resolve single star-forming regions are needed, but so far they could be achieved only in our own galaxy or in the local group. In this context, we recently completed a 51 hours (20x5 arcmin2) MUSE@VLT mosaic covering NGC 253, the Sculptor galaxy. With a distance of ~3.5 Mpc, NGC 253 is the closest starburst galaxy to the Milky Way and it offers us the possibility to study a wide variety of phenomena with a resolution of ~15 pc/", sufficient to resolve most of the ~5000 star-forming regions that are included in the mosaic (which extend up to 0.75* r_25). In this talk, I will present the data and the preliminary results of the projects carried on by the PHANGS collaboration based on this dataset. They include the revision of the PNLF distance of the target, the characterization of the chemical abundances of the ionized gas, the identification and characterization of exotic sources, and many more.