Recoating Yepun's mirror

Rotation curve (velocity vrs. distance from the centre) of the disk surrounding the black hole at the centre of Centaurus A . From the ISAAC spectrum displayed in ESO Press Photo eso0109, the `average' gas velocities along the slit direction can be derived. Position `0' on the horizontal axis indicates the exact position of the galaxy nucleus; at the distance of Centaurus A, 1 arcsec corresponds to 55.5 light-years (17 pc). The blue triangles and the red squares correspond to emission lines from singly ionized Iron atoms ([Fe II]) and Hydrogen (Paschen-Beta), respectively. The high velocities are the hallmark of a central black hole. The thick solid line represents the expected velocities, assuming the presence of a 200 million solar-mass black hole at the centre.

Crédit:

ESO

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso0109c
Type:Graphique
Date de publication:8 mars 2001
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso0109
Taille:682 x 703 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:Centaurus A, NGC 5128
Type:Local Universe : Galaxy : Component : Central Black Hole
Distance:13 million années lumière
Catégorie:Galaxies
Quasars and Black Holes

Image Formats

Grand JPEG
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