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> Galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128)
Galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128)
author: Anglo-Australian Observatory/David Malin Images/Novapix
reference: a-gax51-28013
Image Size 300 DPI: 51 * 40 cm
Centaurus A is a most unusual galaxy. The circular, uniformly bright portion is composed of several thousand million stars, most of them old and yellowish. The galaxy is girded by a dense dust lane which obscures and reddens the light of stars behind it. Some younger, blue stars can be seen at the edges of the dust cloud. One of the nearer galaxies, 13 million light years away, Centaurus A is the most powerful nearby radio source and is also a copious source of X- and gamma rays as well as visible and infrared radiation. The curious green star in the dust lane is because the blue and green-light plates were taken when supernova 1986g had just appeared, while the red-light plate was taken a year later when the supernova had faded.
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