  Turbulent Cauldron of Starbirth
in a Nearby GalaxyA fantastic jumble of young blue star clusters, gigantic glowing gas clouds, and imposing dark dust lanes surrounds the central region of the active galaxy Centaurus A. This mosaic of Hubble Space Telescope images
taken in blue, green, and red light
has been processed to present a natural color picture
of this cosmic maelstrom.
Infrared images from the Hubble have also shown that
hidden at the center of this activity are what seem to
be disks of matter spiraling into
a black hole with a billion times the mass
of the Sun! Centaurus A itself is apparently
the result of a collision of two galaxies and the left over debris is steadily being consumed by the black hole.
Astronomers believe that such black hole "central engines" generate the
radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy
radiated by Centaurus A and other
active galaxies. But for an active galaxy
Centaurus A is close,
a mere 10 million light-years away, and is a relatively convenient laboratory for exploring these
powerful sources of energy.
Text: APOD Credit: HST
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