Centaurus A: optical view of the nearest active galaxy | 10/09/1999 | ||
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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 optical radiation is primarily from stars. Click image to go to a high resolution view. |
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Image Credit: AURA, NOAO, NSF | |||
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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 optical radiation is primarily from stars.
Angular size of box = 7.5 arc min, corresponding
to 25,000 light years |
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