Starship Asterisk*

Thanks, Ken! :D

I have read about this ring before, but this is only the second time that someone has actually really resolved it in an image. The first time I read about the ring, those who had discovered it put forth a theory that the ring might be the remnant of a Magellanic type galaxy which had been ripped apart by Centaurus A a suitable number of million years ago, Since then, star formation had ceased in the dwarf, but the stars in the shredded galaxy were still young enough to shine with a relatively blue light.

Ann

Man, if there are planets orbiting any of those stars they have a pretty good view of the universe. I guess a lot less interesting night sky to the naked eye, though.

[img2]http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/Galaxies/CentaurusA/Asterisk/CentaurusA.jpg[/img2]
Centaurus A showing the blue ring of stars around the core.
[img2]http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/Galaxies/CentaurusA/Asterisk/CentaurusA_BlueRing.jpg[/img2]
Crop of the Centaurus A region showing the faint blue arc of stars pulled out from a possible galaxy merger
Link to the zoom and pan image [url]http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/Galaxies/CentaurusA/CentaurusA.htm[/url]
Link to the full Res Jpg [url]http://www.imagingdeepsky.com/Galaxies/CentaurusA/FullSizeJpg/CentaurusA.jpg[/url]

Thanks for looking,

Kindest Regards,
Ken Crawford
http://www.imagingdeepsky.com