This bizarre image is composed of two views of the same galaxy, Fornax A. The bright spot in the center is an optical view of the galaxy itself, while the large reddish lobes represent extremely strong radio emissions. Radio galaxies like Fornax A are rare, constituting only 1 percent of the galaxies seen from Earth. To emit such strong emissions, radio galaxies require an enormous amount of fuel. It is possible that when a small galaxy passes too close to a large galaxy, stars, gas, and dust in the disk of the smaller one get cannibalizedΓÇöactually consumedΓÇöby the larger galaxy. Eventually, the smaller galaxyΓÇÖs nucleus falls into that of the larger one, providing the hungry beast with fuel for millions of years.
