Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Centaurus A: Young Blue Star Stream

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 17, 2002 is “Centaurus A: Young Blue Star Stream,” an image. It is credited to Credit: E. Peng and H. Ford ( JHU ), K. Freeman ( ANU ), R. White ( STScI ), CTIO , NOAO , NSF. The original explanation runs about 180 words.

Centaurus A: Young Blue Star Stream
Credit: E. Peng and H. Ford ( JHU ), K. Freeman ( ANU ), R. White ( STScI ), CTIO , NOAO , NSF Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Almost lost in this cosmic jumble of stars, gas and dust is a faint but definite blue arc — a stream of young stars whose formation was probably triggered as a small dwarf galaxy was torn apart approaching the giant elliptical galaxy Centaurus A .”

— APOD editors, October 17, 2002

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
October 17, 2002
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: E. Peng and H. Ford ( JHU ), K. Freeman ( ANU ), R. White ( STScI ), CTIO , NOAO , NSF
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 180 words

All of October 2002 → · 2002 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

GalaxiesStar clusters

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: October 17 in other years

On Amazon

Popular picks for space fans

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.