Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Centaurus A's Warped Magnetic Fields

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for April 21, 2021 is “Centaurus A's Warped Magnetic Fields,” an image. It is credited to Image Credit: Optical: European Southern Observatory (ESO) Wide Field Imager; Submillimeter: Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy/ESO/Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX)/A.Weiss et al; X-ray and Infrared: NASA/Chandra/R. Kraft; JPL-Caltech/J. Keene; Text: Joan Schmelz ( USRA ). The original explanation runs about 170 words.

A picture toward the center of our Galaxy in infrared light. Please see the explanation for more information.
Credit: Image Credit: Optical: European Southern Observatory (ESO) Wide Field Imager; Submillimeter: Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy/ESO/Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX)/A.Weiss et al; X-ray and Infrared: NASA/Chandra/R. Kraft; JPL-Caltech/J. Keene; Text: Joan Schmelz ( USRA ) Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“When galaxies collide — what happens to their magnetic fields ? To help find out, NASA pointed SOFIA , its flying 747, at galactic neighbor Centaurus A to observe the emission of polarized dust — which traces magnetic fields.”

— APOD editors, April 21, 2021

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
April 21, 2021
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit: Optical: European Southern Observatory (ESO) Wide Field Imager; Submillimeter: Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy/ESO/Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX)/A.Weiss et al; X-ray and Infrared: NASA/Chandra/R. Kraft; JPL-Caltech/J. Keene; Text: Joan Schmelz ( USRA )
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 170 words

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Topics in this entry

GalaxiesBlack holes

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: April 21 in other years

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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.