Black Holes
Explanation: A 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.
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