Centaurus
Centaurus is a prominent constellation in the southern sky, representing a centaur from Greek mythology. It contains notable celestial objects, including Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to the Sun, and Omega Centauri, the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way.
Source: noirlab.edu
APODs including "Centaurus"
The Outer Shells of Centaurus A
11/11/2002
What causes the surrounding shells in peculiar galaxy Cen A? Last month a fascinating image of peculiar galaxy Centaurus A was released, processed to highlight a faint blue arc indicating an ongoing collision with a smaller galaxy. Another interesting feature of Cen A, however, is the surrounding system of shells, better visible here in this recently released wider pan from the four meter Blanco telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Faint shells around galaxies are not unusual and considered by themselves as evidence of a previous galaxy merger, analogous to water ripples on a pond. An unexpected attribute of these shells is the abundance of gas, which should become separated from existing stars during the collision.