A giant galaxy

Centaurus A is our nearest giant galaxy, at a distance of about 13 million light-years in the southern constellation of Centaurus, and as such, it is one of the most extensively studied objects in the southern sky. It is an elliptical galaxy, currently merging with a companion spiral galaxy, resulting in areas of intense star formation and making it one of the most spectacular objects in the sky. Centaurus A hosts a very active and highly luminous central region, caused by the presence of a supermassive black hole with a mass of about 100 million solar masses (see eso0109), and is the source of strong radio and X-ray emission. Thick dust layers almost completely obscure the galaxy's centre. This image is based on data acquired with the 1.5-metre Danish telescope at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, through three filters (B, V, R).

Herkunftsnachweis:

ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R. Gendler, J.-E. Ovaldsen & S. Guisard (www.eso.org/~sguisard) (ESO)

Über das Bild

ID:cena
Typ:Beobachtung
Veröffentlichungsdatum:3. Dezember 2009 23:20
Größe:1460 x 1130 px

Über das Objekt

Name:Centaurus A, NGC 5128
Typ:Local Universe : Galaxy
Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical
Entfernung:13 Million Lichtjahre
Constellation:Centaurus
Kategorie:Galaxies

Bildformate

Großes JPEG
492,2 KB

Bildschirm-Hintergrundbilder

1024x768
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1280x1024
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1600x1200
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1920x1200
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2048x1536
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Koordinaten

Position (RA):13 25 27.70
Position (Dec):-43° 1' 9.55"
Field of view:9.62 x 7.45 arcminutes
Orientierung:Die Nordrichtung liegt 44.8° rechts zur Vertikale

Farben & Filter

SpektralbereichWellenlängeTeleskop
Optisch
B
433 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC
Optisch
V
544 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC
Optisch
R
648 nmDanish 1.54-metre telescope
DFOSC