Centaurus A
Colour composite image of Centaurus A, revealing the lobes and jets emanating from the active galaxy’s central black hole. This is a composite of images obtained with three instruments, operating at very different wavelengths. The 870-micron submillimetre data, from LABOCA on APEX, are shown in orange. X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are shown in blue. Visible light data from the Wide Field Imager (WFI) on the MPG/ESO 2.2 m telescope located at La Silla, Chile, show the stars and the galaxy’s characteristic dust lane in close to "true colour".
#L
Credit:ESO/WFI (Optical); MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A.Weiss et al. (Submillimetre); NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Kraft et al. (X-ray)
About the Image
| Id: | eso0903a |
| Type: | Observation |
| Release date: | 28 January 2009 |
| Related releases: | eso0903 |
| Related science announcements: | sciann13055 |
| Size: | 2808 x 2957 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Centaurus A, NGC 5128 |
| Type: | Local Universe : Galaxy : Type : Elliptical |
| Distance: | 13 million light years |
| Constellation: | Centaurus |
| Category: | Galaxies |
Wallpapers
Coordinates
| Position (RA): | 13 25 27.70 |
| Position (Dec): | -43° 1' 9.55" |
| Field of view: | 22.71 x 23.92 arcminutes |
| Orientation: | North is 0.0° right of vertical |
View in WorldWide Telescope:
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Optical B | 445 nm | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| X-ray | Chandra X-ray Observatory | |
| Optical V | 551 nm | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |
| Millimeter Submillimetre | 870 μm | Atacama Pathfinder Experiment LABOCA |
| Optical R | 658 nm | MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope WFI |