Centaurus A sports a warped central disk of gas and dust, which is evidence of a past collision and merger with another galaxy. It also has an active galactic nucleus that periodically emits jets. It is the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky and only about 13 million light-years away from Earth, making it an ideal target to study an active galactic nucleus – a supermassive black hole emitting jets and winds – with NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. This image was made using data from the Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra space telescopes and the Very Large Array.
Credits
Image
NASA, CXC, SAO, Astrophotography by Rolf Olsen, NASA-JPL, Caltech, NRAO, AUI, NSF, UOH, M. J. Hardcastle
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Centaurus A |
| Object Description | Elliptical/Active Galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 13h 25m 28s |
| Dec. Position | -43° 1′ 9″ |
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Distance | 13 million light-years |
| Dimensions | Image is 24 arcmin across. (about 147,000 light years) |
| About The Data | |
| Instrument | CXC>ACIS, HST, SPITZER>IRAC, VLA |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | X-ray (Purple); Optical (Blue, Red); Infrared (Red), Radio (Red) |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
