Close-up: Galaxy Centaurus A—A Galactic Merger | Victor Blanco Telescope

Close-up: Galaxy Centaurus A—A Galactic Merger | Victor Blanco Telescope

The galaxy Centaurus A, located over 12 million light-years away in the direction of the southern-hemisphere constellation Centaurus (The Centaur), is the leading light of this striking image. This image provides a view of the luminous glow of stars and dark tendrils of dust that hide the bright center of the galaxy. This dust is the result of a past galactic collision, where a giant elliptical galaxy merged with a smaller spiral galaxy. As well as large amounts of gas and dust, Centaurus A’s dust lane contains widespread star formation, as indicated by the red clouds of hydrogen and by the large numbers of faint blue stars visible at each end of the dust lane.

Centaurus A was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop from his home in Parramatta, in New South Wales, Australia.

Learn about the Víctor M. Blanco Telescope:
https://noirlab.edu/science/programs/ctio/telescopes/victor-blanco-4m-telescope

Dark Energy Camera (DECam)
https://noirlab.edu/public/programs/ctio/victor-blanco-4m-telescope/decam/

Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA 
Acknowledgments: 
PI: M. Soraisam (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/NSF NOIRLab) 
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab)

Duration: 46 seconds
Release Date: Aug. 31, 2021

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