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> Giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 in Fornax
Giant elliptical galaxy NGC 1316 in Fornax
author: Nasa/Novapix
reference: a-gax13-16002
Image Size 300 DPI: 12 * 12 cm
The picture was taken in April of 1996 with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. It reveals the dust lanes and star clusters of this giant galaxy that give evidence that it was formed from a past merger of two gas-rich galaxies. NGC 1316 is on the outskirts of a nearby cluster of galaxies in the southern constellation of Fornax, at a distance of about 75 million light-years. It is one of the brightest ellipticals in the Fornax galaxy cluster. NGC 1316, also known as Fornax A, is one of the strongest and largest radio sources in the sky, with radio lobes extending over several degrees of sky (well off the Hubble image).
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