Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Centaurus (Cen)  ·  Contains:  Centaurus A  ·  NGC 5128
Centaurus A (NGC 5128), Herbert Walter
Centaurus A (NGC 5128)
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Centaurus A (NGC 5128), Herbert Walter
Centaurus A (NGC 5128)
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Description

Centaurus A (also known as NGC 5128 or Caldwell 77) is a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus.
It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop , in New South Wales, Australia.
There is considerable debate in the literature regarding the galaxy's fundamental properties such as its Hubble type (lenticular galaxy or a giant elliptical galaxy) and distance (11–13 million light-years). NGC 5128 is one of the closest radio galaxies to Earth, so its active galactic nucleus has been extensively studied by professional astronomers.
The galaxy is also the fifth-brightest in the sky, making it an ideal amateur astronomy target. It is only visible from the southern hemisphere and low northern latitudes.

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Jets - Ha Exposure

The center of the galaxy contains a supermassive black hole with a mass of 55 million solar masses, which ejects a relativistic jet that is responsible for emissions in the X-ray and radio wavelengths.
By taking radio observations of the jet separated by a decade, astronomers have determined that the inner parts of the jet are moving at about half of the speed of light. X-rays are produced farther out as the jet collides with surrounding gases, resulting in the creation of highly energetic particles. The X-ray jets of Centaurus A are thousands of light-years long, while the radio jets are over a million light-years long.

Text by wikipedia


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Centaurus A (NGC 5128), Herbert Walter

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Southern Hemisphere Astro