Centaurus A is a Galaxy in the Constellation of Centaurus which was discovered in 1826 by a Scottish Astronomer James Dunlop. He discovered it from his home in Parramatta in New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as NGC 5128, LEDA 46957, ESO 270-9 and Cladwell 77. It is at a distance of 13 million light-years from earth.
NGC 5128 or Centaurus A is one of the closest Radio Galaxies to Earth and therefore its active Galactic Nucleus has been extensively studied by professional astronomers. It is also the fifth brightest Galaxy in the sky, making it an ideal amateur Astronomy target. The Galaxy is visible only from the Southern Hemisphere and Low Northern Latitudes.
The Center of the Galaxy contains a supermassive black hole with a mass of 55 million solar masses. It ejects a relativistic jet that is responsible for emissions in the X-Ray and Radio Wavelengths.
Read more about Centaurus A here.
New Image of Centaurus A
Astronomers have captured a beautiful, new image of Centaurus A Galaxy. They used the Dark Energy Camera (DEC) on the Victor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.
The new image provides a spectacular view of the luminous glow of stars and dark tendrils of dust hide the bright centre of the Galaxy. The dust is the result of a past Galactic Collision due to which a giant elliptical galaxy merged with a smaller spiral galaxy.
Read more about the new image of Centaurus A Galaxy, as published by Sci-News.
