Centaurus A, NGC 5128, X-Ray
Centaurus A is the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky, making it an ideal target for amateur astronomers, and is famous for the dust lane across its middle and a giant jet blasting away from the supermassive black hole at its center. Cen A is an active galaxy about 12 million light years from Earth. The images of Centaurus A represent a sample of composites created with X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and optical data collected by an amateur astronomer. Collaborations between professional and amateur astronomers reveal the possibilities and are intended to raise interest and awareness among the community of the wealth of data publicly available in NASA's various mission archives. This effort is particularly appropriate for this month because April marks Global Astronomy Month, the world's largest global celebration of astronomy. Release date April 23, 2014.
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Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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