Radio galaxy Centaurus A

Eso_eso0005b_1024

eso_eso0005b February 8th, 2000

Credit: ESO

The new FORS2 image of Centaurus A, also known as NGC 5128, is an example of how frontier science can be combined with esthetic aspects. This galaxy is a most interesting object for the present attempts to understand active galaxies. It is being investigated by means of observations in all spectral regions, from radio via infrared and optical wavelengths to X- and gamma-rays. It is one of the most extensively studied objects in the southern sky. FORS2, with its large field-of-view and excellent optical resolution, makes it possible to study the global context of the active region in Centaurus A in great detail. Note for instance the great number of massive and luminous blue stars that are well resolved individually, in the upper right and lower left in ESO Press Photo eso0005b. 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. This structure was first reported by Sir John Herschel in 1847. 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. This image is a composite of three exposures in B (300 sec exposure, image quality 0.60 arcsec; here rendered in blue colour), V (240 sec, 0.60 arcsec; green) and R (240 sec, 0.55 arcsec; red). The full-resolution version of this photo retains the original pixels.

Provider: European Southern Observatory

Image Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0005b/

Curator: European Southern Observatory, Garching bei München, Germany

Image Use Policy: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Image Details

Image Type
Observation
Object Name
Cen A Centaurus A NGC 5128
Subject - Local Universe
Galaxy
Galaxy > Component > Central Black Hole
Eso_eso0005b_128
 

Position Details

Position (ICRS)
RA = 13h 25m 27.7s
DEC = -43° 1’ 9.5”
Orientation
North is 0.1° CW
Field of View
6.9 x 6.9 arcminutes
Constellation
Centaurus

Color Mapping

  Telescope Spectral Band Wavelength
Red VLT (FORS2) Optical (R) -
Green VLT (FORS2) Optical (V) -
Blue VLT (FORS2) Optical (B) -
Eso_eso0005b_1280
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ID
eso0005b
Subject Category
C.5   C.5.4.6  
Subject Name
Cen A, Centaurus A, NGC 5128
Credits
ESO
Release Date
2000-02-08T00:00:00
Lightyears
Redshift
Reference Url
https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0005b/
Type
Observation
Image Quality
Distance Notes
Facility
Very Large Telescope, Very Large Telescope, Very Large Telescope
Instrument
FORS2, FORS2, FORS2
Color Assignment
Red, Green, Blue
Band
Optical, Optical, Optical
Bandpass
R, V, B
Central Wavelength
Start Time
Integration Time
Dataset ID
Notes
Coordinate Frame
ICRS
Equinox
J2000
Reference Value
201.36542, -43.019319
Reference Dimension
4961.0, 4957.0
Reference Pixel
2778.02028359, 2328.48411389
Scale
-2.305121e-05, 2.305121e-05
Rotation
-0.12254623951
Coordinate System Projection:
TAN
Quality
Full
FITS Header
Notes
Creator (Curator)
European Southern Observatory
URL
http://www.eso.org/
Name
Email
Telephone
Address
Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2
City
Garching bei München
State/Province
Postal Code
D-85748
Country
Germany
Rights
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Publisher
European Southern Observatory
Publisher ID
eso
Resource ID
eso0005b
Metadata Date
2023-10-11T09:27:04.217700
Metadata Version
1.1
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Detailed color mapping information coming soon...

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There is no distance meta data in this image.

 

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