Zooming in on the distant active galaxy PKS 1830-211

16 October, 2013 / Read time: 1 minute

This video sequence starts with a broad view of the southern Milky Way and zooms in on a region close to the centre of the galaxy. When we get closer we start to see huge numbers of stars and, apparently nestled amongst them, but really vastly further away, the remote active galaxy PKS 1830-211 can just be seen. This unusual object is gravitationally lensed by a closer galaxy and appears split into two parts, as can be seen in the ALMA observations that are shown in red at the end of this sequence.
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/I. Martí-Vidal