Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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 [2]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: [3]SADR Observatory Team: [4]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 [5]dust lanes run across the center of unusual elliptical galaxy [6]Centaurus A. These dust lanes are so thick they almost completely obscure the [7]galaxy's center in [8]visible light. This is particularly unusual as [9]Cen A's older stars and oval shape are characteristic of a giant [10]elliptical galaxy, a galaxy type typically low in dark dust. Pictured in [11]this deep image is a complex network of foreground gas and dust, as well as [12]shells of dim stars and a [13]jet projecting to the upper right. Also known as NGC 5128, [14]Cen A is surely the result of a [15]galactic collision where many young dust-creating stars were formed. However, details of the creation of Cen A's unusually [16]active center and iconic central dust lanes are still [17]being researched. Cen A lies only 13 million [18]light years away, making it the [19]closest active galaxy. Jigsaw Galaxy: [20]Astronomy Puzzle of the Day Tomorrow's picture: titanian trenches __________________________________________________________________ [21]< | [22]Archive | [23]Submissions | [24]Index | [25]Search | [26]Calendar | [27]RSS | [28]Education | [29]About APOD | [30]Discuss | [31]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [32]Robert Nemiroff ([33]MTU) & [34]Jerry Bonnell ([35]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [36]Specific rights apply. [37]NASA Web Privacy, [38]Accessibility, [39]Notices; A service of: [40]ASD at [41]NASA / [42]GSFC, [43]NASA Science Activation & [44]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2603/CenA_SADR_5000.jpg 3. https://www.facebook.com/SadrObservatory/ 4. http://www.astrosurf.com/jcdalouzy/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030706.html 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurus_A 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200222.html 8. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/09_visiblelight/ 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241211.html 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptical_galaxy 11. https://app.astrobin.com/i/ixo52t 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120701.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210804.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230503.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?tquery=colliding+galaxies 16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_galactic_nucleus 17. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https://preview.redd.it/my-cat-is-obsessed-with-my-new-aquarium-he-will-sit-here-v0-6n1hn3b2rvnd1.jpeg?width=4433&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ccbe844e403d440db3226f62967b6e6ce7c7d67 18. https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/what-is-a-light-year/ 19. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1998A&ARv...8..237I/abstract 20. https://www.scigames.org/apps/webjigsaw2/index.php 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260329.html 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 27. https://apod.com/feed.rss 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 30. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260330 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260331.html 32. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 34. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 35. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 36. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 37. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 38. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 39. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 40. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 41. https://www.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 43. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 44. http://www.mtu.edu/