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Centaurus is so big it requires more than one image. This deep panoramic
view is shifted some to the southwest of the main image of
Northern Centaurus and well to the northeast of
far Southern Centaurus where we find Alpha and
Beta Cen. The bright fuzzy object at center is the massive globular cluster
Omega Centauri. Muhlifain (Gamma Cen) is the bright star to the right of it
about half-way across the picture, while Epsilon is below it and Zeta to the
immediate left. Eta lies up and to the left of Zeta.
The bright star at far right is Delta Cen. Menkent
(Theta) and Iota are off the picture to the upper left and right.
Part of Lupus lies in the lower left corner,
and is indicated by its brightest star, Kakkab (Alpha Lupi). The very
top of Crux lies at the bottom right.
Note two other fuzzy objects. Directly above Omega Cen, find
the peculiar and very bright galaxy NGC 5128 (also called Centaurus A for its
bright radio emission), which lies about 15 million light years away. Then
just down and to the right of Zeta find the open cluster NGC 5460, which is
about 2200 light years distant. Note also the observatory domes at the
bottom, which are the sources of the red lights toward lower right and of
the reddish glow in the picture.
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