                       APOD: 2018 July 12 - Centaurus A

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                 2018 July 12
                                      [2]
                                 Centaurus A
 Image Credit & Copyright [3] : CEDIC Team [4]  at Chilescope [5] , Processing
                              - Bernhard Hubl [6]

Explanation: Only 11 million light-years away, Centaurus [7]  A is the closest
active galaxy [8]  to planet Earth. Spanning over 60,000 light-years, the
peculiar elliptical galaxy also known as NGC 5128 [9] , is featured in this
sharp telescopic view [10] . Centaurus A is [11]  apparently the result of a
collision [12] of two otherwise normal galaxies resulting in a fantastic
jumble of star clusters and imposing dark dust lanes. Near the galaxy's center
[13] , left over cosmic debris is steadily being consumed by a central black
hole with a billion times the mass of the Sun. As in other [14]  active
galaxies, that process likely generates the radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy
radiated by Centaurus A [15] .

                  Tomorrow's picture: turn your radio on [16]

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [28] (MTU [29] ) & Jerry Bonnell [30]
                                  (UMCP [31] )
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1807/N5128-3_Hubl.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] http://www.cedic.at/
  [5] http://www.chilescope.com/about/chilescope/
  [6] http://astrophoton.com/about_me.htm
  [7] http://www.rasnz.org.nz/Stars/Centaurus.htm
  [8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_galactic_nucleus
  [9] http://messier.seds.org/xtra/ngc/n5128.html
  [10] http://www.astrophoton.com/NGC5128-3.htm
  [11] http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1998/14/ text/
  [12] http://burro.cwru.edu/JavaLab/GalCrashWeb/
  [13] ap060304.html
  [14] https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/
nasas-fermi-mission-finds-hints-of-gamma-ray-cycle-in-an-active-galaxy
  [15] ap080110.html
  [16] ap180713.html
  [17] ap180711.html
  [18] archivepix.html
  [19] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [20] lib/aptree.html
  [21] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [22] calendar/allyears.html
  [23] /apod.rss
  [24] lib/edlinks.html
  [25] lib/about_apod.html
  [26] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=180712
  [27] ap180713.html
  [28] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [29] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [30] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [31] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [32] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
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