This is an image of the Centaurus A galaxy as seen by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. This is an elliptical galaxy whose shape has been severely distorted, most likely by a merger with a spiral galaxy that occurred within the past billion years or so. As a result, the normally older, yellow and red stars that are typical of an elliptical are interspersed with clusters of young, blue stars, due to the upheavals of gas, dust, and gravity associated with galactic collisions. Cen-A is also famous for a supermassive black hole at its centre which emits a massive x-ray and radio emission.

Image Credit: J-C Cuillandre / CFHT