APOD: 2023 May 3 Б Centaurus A: A Peculiar Island of Stars
Explanation:
Galaxies are fascinating.
In galaxies, gravity alone holds
together massive collections of stars, dust, interstellar gas, stellar remnants and
dark matter.
Pictured is NGC 5128, better known as Centaurus A.
Cen A is the fifth brightest galaxy on the sky and is
located at a distance of about 12 million light years from Earth.
The warped shape of Cen A is the result of a
merger between an
elliptical and a
spiral galaxy.
Its
active galactic nucleus harbors a
supermassive black hole that is about
55 million times more massive than our Sun.
This central black hole ejects a fast
jet
visible in both
radio and
X-ray light.
Filaments of the jet are visible in red in the upper left.
New observations by the
Event Horizon Telescope
have revealed a brightening of the jet only towards its edges --
but for reasons that are
currently unknown and an active topic of research.
At NASA it's:
Black Hole Week
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
