                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

                                2026 March 30
   A starfield glows faintly with red glowing gas and dust. In the center
    there is some sort of unusual galaxy with a red jet emanating toward
   the upper right and a dark dust lane through its center. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                   Peculiar Elliptical Galaxy Centaurus A
      Image Credit & Copyright: SADR Observatory Team: J-C Dalouzy, P.
    Bazart, M. Dherbécourt, C. Humbert, G. Leroy, J-P Quéau, H. Talbot, &
                                  E. Valin

   Explanation: What's happened to the center of this galaxy? Dramatic
   dust lanes run across the center of unusual elliptical galaxy Centaurus
   A. These dust lanes are so thick they almost completely obscure the
   galaxy's center in visible light. This is particularly unusual as Cen
   A's older stars and oval shape are characteristic of a giant elliptical
   galaxy, a galaxy type typically low in dark dust. Pictured in this deep
   image is a complex network of foreground gas and dust, as well as
   shells of dim stars and a jet projecting to the upper right. Also known
   as NGC 5128, Cen A is surely the result of a galactic collision where
   many young dust-creating stars were formed. However, details of the
   creation of Cen A's unusually active center and iconic central dust
   lanes are still being researched. Cen A lies only 13 million light
   years away, making it the closest active galaxy.

                 Jigsaw Galaxy: Astronomy Puzzle of the Day
                    Tomorrow's picture: titanian trenches
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