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Credit & Copyright: Roberto Colombari
Explanation:
What's happened to the center of this galaxy?
Unusual and dramatic dust lanes run
across the center of elliptical galaxy Centaurus A.
These dust lanes are so thick they almost completely obscure the
galaxy's center in
visible light.
This is particularly unusual as
Cen A's
red stars and round shape are characteristic of a giant
elliptical galaxy,
a galaxy type usually low in dark dust.
Cen A,
also known as NGC 5128, is also unusual compared to an average
elliptical galaxy
because it contains a higher proportion of young blue stars and is a
very strong source of
radio emission.
Evidence indicates that
Cen A is likely the result of the
collision of two
normal galaxies.
During the collision, many
young stars were formed, but
details of the creation of
Cen A's unusual dust belts are still being researched.
Cen A lies only 13 million
light years away, making it the closest
active galaxy.
Cen A,
pictured above,
spans 60,000 light years and can be seen with binoculars toward the constellation of
Centaurus.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: dust - Elliptical Galaxy
Publications with words: dust - Elliptical Galaxy
See also: