... Part of a binary star system only 8 light-years away, it was known in modern times to have a small companion star, Sirius B. N81: Star Cradle in the SMC . ... A fantastic jumble of young blue star clusters, gigantic glowing gas clouds, and imposing dark dust lanes surrounds the central region of the active galaxy Centaurus A. This mosaic of Hubble Space Telescope images taken in blue, green, and red light has been processed to present a natural color picture of this cosmic maelstrom. ...