A New Look at an Old Friend

Chandra_561_1024

chandra_561 February 6th, 2014

Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/U.Birmingham/M.Burke et al.

Centaurus A is a galaxy well known for a gargantuan jet blasting away from a central supermassive black hole, which is seen in this new Chandra image. This image - where red, medium, and blue show low, medium, and high-energy X-rays respectively - has been processed with new techniques and contains data from observations equivalent to over nine and a half days worth of observing time taken between 1999 and 2012. The data housed in Chandra's extensive archive on Centaurus A provide a rich resource for a wide range of scientific investigations, including a recent study that examines the population and characteristics of black holes and neutron stars throughout the galaxy.

Provider: Chandra X-ray Observatory

Image Source: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2014/cena/

Curator: Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cambridge, MA, USA

Image Use Policy: http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html

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Image Details Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Centaurus A
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy > Component > Dust Lane
Galaxy > Activity > AGN

Distance Details Distance

Universescale2
11,000,000 light years
Chandra_561_128
 

Position Details Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 13h 25m 27.6s
DEC = -43° 1’ 7.9”
Orientation
North is up
Field of View
16.8 x 16.8 arcminutes
Constellation
Centaurus

Color Mapping Details Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Low X-ray) 1.65 nm
Green Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (Medium X-ray) 990.0 pm
Blue Chandra (ACIS) X-ray (High X-ray) 710.0 pm
Spectrum_xray1
Red
Green
Blue
Chandra_561_1280
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ID
561
Subject Category
C.5.4.8   C.5.3.2  
Subject Name
Centaurus A
Credits
X-ray: NASA/CXC/U.Birmingham/M.Burke et al.
Release Date
2014-02-06
Lightyears
11,000,000
Redshift
11,000,000
Reference Url
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2014/cena/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Good
Distance Notes
Facility
Chandra, Chandra, Chandra
Instrument
ACIS, ACIS, ACIS
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
X-ray, X-ray, X-ray
Bandpass
Low X-ray, Medium X-ray, High X-ray
Central Wavelength
1.65, 0.99, 0.71
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
201.3649290, -43.0188596
Reference Dimension
3600.0, 3600.0
Reference Pixel
1801.0, 1801.0
Scale
7.75957e-05, 7.7595725e-05
Rotation
0.01
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
WCS retrieved using CXCs PinpointWCS
Creator (Curator)
Chandra X-ray Observatory
URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu
Name
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center
Email
cxcpub@cfa.harvard.edu
Telephone
617.496.7941
Address
60 Garden St.
City
Cambridge
State/Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
USA
Rights
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/image_use.html
Publisher
Chandra X-ray Observatory center
Publisher ID
chandra
Resource ID
cena.tif
Resource URL
http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2014/cena/cena.tif
Related Resources
Metadata Date
2014-02-06T10:43:24-05:00
Metadata Version
1.2
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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Universescalefull
11,000,000 light years

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