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Astronomers have obtained an unprecedented
look at the nearest example of galactic cannibalism a massive
black hole hidden at the center of a nearby giant galaxy that is feeding
on a smaller galaxy in a spectacular collision. Such fireworks were
common in the early universe, as galaxies formed and evolved, but are
rare today.
The Hubble telescope offers a stunning
unprecedented close-up view of a turbulent firestorm of star birth along
a nearly edge-on dust disk girdling Centaurus A, the nearest active
galaxy to Earth. The picture at upper left shows the entire galaxy.
The blue outline represents Hubble's field of view. The larger, central
picture is Hubble's close-up view of the galaxy. Brilliant clusters
of young blue stars lie along the edge of the dark dust lane. Outside
the rift the sky is filled with the soft hazy glow of the galaxy's much
older resident population of red giant and red dwarf stars.