Giant elliptical galaxy

Editors note --  NASA's "image of the day" last Tuesday was taken with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 in July 2010.


NASA ellaborated, "Resembling looming rain clouds on a stormy day, dark lanes of dust crisscross the giant elliptical galaxy Centaurus A." 

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration

"Centaurus A contains the closest active galactic nucleus to Earth, at a distance of just over 11 million light-years. The center is home for a supermassive black hole that ejects jets of high-speed gas into space, but neither the supermassive black hole or the jets are visible in this image." 

NASA NASA 

[Image of the Day] Active Galaxy Centaurus A go.nasa.gov/rubWIC #iotd