Although the galaxy Centaurus A is much closer at about 7 million light-years, it is no less strange. This visible light image on the left shows a very thick lane of gas and dust, much like the gas and dust lane of our own galaxy. With more than 200 billion stars, this galaxy is one of the most massive known. And it is even more interesting when we look at in radio light (on the right).

There are two jets of material squirting out at right angles to the dusty plane of the galaxy, not seen with visible light. This is very high velocity gas literally explodes from the center of the galaxy, much like the jets of Cygnus A on the preceding page.