Centaurus A
Image Credit &
Copyright:
David Alemazkour
A mere 11 million light-years away,
Centaurus A
is the closest
active
galaxy to planet Earth.
Spanning over 60,000 light-years,
the peculiar elliptical galaxy also known
as NGC 5128,
is featured in this sharp telescopic view.
Centaurus A is
apparently the result of a collision of two otherwise normal galaxies
resulting in a fantastic jumble of star clusters and
imposing dark dust lanes.
Near the galaxy's center,
leftover cosmic debris is steadily
being consumed by a
central black hole with a billion times
the mass of the Sun.
As in other active galaxies, that process likely generates the
enormous radio, X-ray, and
gamma-ray energy
radiated by
Centaurus A.