Centaurus A: infrared view of the nearest active galaxy 10/09/1999
Optical images show that NGC5128 is an elliptical galaxy with huge
dust lanes across the middle of the galaxy. The infrared image gives a better view of the dust lanes, as well as
the brilliance of the central source.
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Image Credit: MASS.  
Optical images show that NGC5128 is an elliptical galaxy with huge dust lanes across the middle of the galaxy. This has led astronomers to speculate that Cen A was the site of a merger between a small spiral galaxy and a large elliptical galaxy several hundred million years ago.

The infrared image gives a better view of the dust lanes, as well as the brilliance of the central source. The infrared radiation is produced by cool stars with temperatures of "only" a few thousand degrees Celsius, and by dust that has been heated to a few hundred to a thousand degrees.

Angular size of box = 10 arc min, corresponding to 38,000 light years

 
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