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

Image Formats

Large JPEG
1.8 MB
Screensize JPEG
297.5 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
239.9 KB
1280x1024
358.6 KB
1600x1200
478.0 KB
1920x1200
541.0 KB
2048x1536
727.7 KB

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

Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Optical
B
445 nmMPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
WFI
X-rayChandra X-ray Observatory
Optical
V
551 nmMPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
WFI
Millimeter
Submillimetre
870 μmAtacama Pathfinder Experiment
LABOCA
Optical
R
658 nmMPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
WFI