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> Galaxy Centaurus A in visible and infrared
Galaxy Centaurus A in visible and infrared
author: Noao/Aura/Nsf/Nasa/Novapix
reference: a-gax51-28009
Image Size 300 DPI: 25 * 12 cm
Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is the nearest active galaxy to Earth. Located 13 million light-years away in the southern constellation Centaurus, `Cen A` appears to be the result of a merger-collision between a large elliptical galaxy (which has a black hole at its center) and a smaller spiral galaxy that veered too close to the larger one, resulting in the cannabalization of the small galaxy. The visible image (left) from the National Science Foundation's Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile is dominated by a bright halo of light caused by the stars in the galaxy. Many of these stars are hidden by the dense band of dust that blocks our view of their light. Infrared light is not so readily obscured by dust as visible light, so the infrared image (right) from instruments on the NASA-JPL Spitzer Space Telescope reveals the complex structure of the dust lane, and the stars and gas embedded within it.
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