This image of Centaurus A shows a spectacular new view of a supermassive
black hole's power. Jets and lobes powered by the central black hole in
this nearby galaxy are shown by submillimeter data (colored orange) from
the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope in Chile and X-ray data
(colored blue) from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Visible light data from
the Wide Field Imager on the Max-Planck/ESO 2.2 m telescope, also located
in Chile, shows the dust lane in the galaxy and background stars. The
X-ray jet in the upper left extends for about 13,000 light years away from
the black hole. The APEX data shows that material in the jet is travelling
at about half the speed of light.
| Fast Facts for Centaurus A: |
| Credit |
X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Kraft et al.; Submillimeter: MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A.Weiss et al.; Optical: ESO/WFI |
| Release Date |
January 30, 2009 |
| Scale |
Image is 24.3 arcmin across. |
| Category |
Quasars & Active Galaxies |
| Coordinates (J2000) |
RA 13h 25m 27.62s | Dec -43° 01´ 08.80" |
| Constellation |
Centaurus |
| Observation Date |
6 pointings between 03/22/2007 - 05/30/2007
|
| Observation Time |
199 hours |
| Obs. ID |
7797, 7798, 7799, 7800, 8489, 8490
|
| Instrument |
ACIS
|
| Also Known As | Cen A, NGC 5128 |
| Color Code |
X-ray (blue), Submillimeter (orange); Optical (white, brown) |
| Distance Estimate |
About 11 million light years
|
|
Superb photo.
Posted by Srinivasa Rao H K on Tuesday, 04.22.14 @ 21:25pm
The distance estimate chart is good, it gave me a question. It has been said that the universe is like a one sided shape, but looking at this chart there is a current universe and the early, therefore, is there a possibility that there is an earlier universe? I am asking this question looking at the fact that when placing two mirrors facing opposite to each other they will reflect each other and an infinite image is formed, the only thing that is going to stop you from seeing the infinite image is only your image. The only way to see the infinite image is to be invisible.
Posted by TAOLO MABIKA on Wednesday, 03.12.14 @ 04:06am
Amazing knowledge and universe. Would like to know more about all this. It's so fascinating. Keep posting.
Posted by Kopal on Monday, 03.10.14 @ 23:37pm
If Centaurus A is only 11 light years from Earth, how far are we from the core of Milky Way?
Posted by Arun Singh on Monday, 03.10.14 @ 21:24pm
So so beautiful. Thank you for sharing these awesome images. I would like some more info on the Centaurus system, where can I find it? Thank you!
Posted by anna on Tuesday, 09.17.13 @ 10:38am