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> Galaxy NGC 5128 (Centaurus A)

Galaxy NGC 5128 (Centaurus A)

author: ESO/Novapix

reference: a-gax51-28003

Image Size 300 DPI: 17 * 17 cm

Centaurus A is one of the foremost examples of a radio-loud active galactic nucleus (AGN) . On images obtained at optical wavelengths, thick dust layers almost completely obscure the galaxy's centre. Until 1949, NGC 5128 was thought to be a strange object in the Milky Way, but it was then identified as a powerful radio galaxy and designated Centaurus A . The distance is about 10-13 million light-years (3-4 Mpc) and the apparent visual magnitude is about 8, or 5 times too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. There is strong evidence that Centaurus A is a merger of an elliptical with a spiral galaxy, since elliptical galaxies would not have had enough dust and gas to form the young, blue stars seen along the edges of the dust lane. The core of Centaurus A is the smallest known extragalactic radio source, only 10 light-days across. A jet of high energy particles from this centre is observed in radio and X-ray images. The core probably contains a supermassive black hole with a mass of about 100 million solar masses. Image taken with Kueyen telescope (VLT) in Chile.

Keywords for this photo:

2000 - ACTIVE GALAXY - ACTIVE GALAXY NUCLEUS - AGN - ASTRONOMY - BLACK HOLE - CENTAURUS - CENTAURUS A - ELLIPTICAL GALAXY - FORS2 - GALACTIC BLACK HOLE - GALAXY - KUEYEN - NGC 5128 - SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE - STAR - STAR FORMATION - SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE - VERY LARGE TELESCOPE - VLT -