Astronomy Picture of the Day - Peculiar Elliptical Galaxy Centaurus A

NASA ^ | 30 Mar, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: SADR Observatory Team: J-C Dalouzy, P. Bazart, M. Dherbécourt, C. Humbert,

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: What's happened to the center of this galaxy? Dramatic dust lanes run across the center of unusual 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 older stars and oval shape are characteristic of a giant elliptical galaxy, a galaxy type typically low in dark dust. Pictured in this deep image is a complex network of foreground gas and dust, as well as shells of dim stars and a jet projecting to the upper right. Also known as NGC 5128, Cen A is surely the result of a galactic collision where many young dust-creating stars were formed. However, details of the creation of Cen A's unusually active center and iconic central dust lanes are still being researched. Cen A lies only 13 million light years away, making it the closest active galaxy.

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

[MtnClimber]

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[No name given]

Wow.

[Deaf and Discerning]

Centaurus A is just a light bulb in a fog bank — a core trying to shine through its own debris.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

M.C. Thanks for posting!

Looks like an eye...Reptilian? Goat? Cat?

Don't know what a Centaurs eye looks like since they only exist in myth and mind.