Centaurus A, very special galaxy
Galaxies are fascinating. In galaxies, gravity alone holds together massive collections of stars, dust, interstellar gas, stellar remnants and dark matter. Pictured, at a distance of about 12 million light-years, is the fifth-brightest galaxy in the sky, listed as NGC 5128, but better known as Centaurus A. The distorted shape of Cen A is the result of a merger between an elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy. Cen A has an active galactic nucleus that houses at its center a supermassive black hole about 55 million times more massive than our Sun. This central black hole ejects a fast jet visible in both radio light and X-rays. The jet filaments are visible in red at the top left of the image. New observations by the Event Horizon Telescope have revealed brightening of the jet at its tips, but for reasons currently unknown and under active research.
Astronomy Picture Of The Day (APOD)
Translation by Didier Jamet
read the original text on the NASA website
Authors and editors: Robert Nemiroff ( MTU ) & Jerry Bonnell ( UMCP )
NASA Technical Representative: Jay Norris
A service of : ASD of NASA / GSFC & Michigan Tech. U.
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