ALMA Telescope Peeks Through Centaurus A's Swirling Gas Clouds
Centaurus A's Clouds of Gas This new image of Centaurus A combines ALMA and near-infrared observations of the massive elliptical radio galaxy. The new ALMA observations, shown in a range of green, yellow and orange colors, reveal the position and motion of the clouds of gas in the galaxy. They are the sharpest and most sensitive such observations ever made. ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); ESO/Y. Beletsky Along with hosting a supermassive black hole at its heart, the center of the radio-loud galaxy Centaurus A is home to a stellar nursery that tells a tale of the galaxy's past. The presence of a dark band of dust, as well as the galaxy's powerful emissions in the radio end of the spectrum, suggest it formed in a collision between a giant elliptical galaxy and a smaller spiral galaxy. But that dark dust band blocks out the galaxy's bright center, and to see past it, astronomers have...