Caption: Centaurus A is the nearest strong radio galaxy. The circular, uniformly bright portion is composed of several thousand million stars, like any elliptical galaxy. However, this galaxy is girded by a dense dust lane which obscures and reddens the light of stars behind it. Some younger, blue stars can be seen at the edges of the dust cloud. One of the nearer galaxies, 13 million light years away, Centaurus A is a copious source of X- and gamma rays as well as visible and infrared radiation.
Copyright: (c) 1980 Anglo-Australian Telescope Board, photograph by David Malin
