Centaurus A

Elliptical galaxy with a dust lane, NGC 5128

From the Sun

12.4 million light-years

Picture: ESO/WFI (Optical); MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A.Weiss et al. (Submillimetre); NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Kraft et al. (X-ray)

What it is

A giant elliptical galaxy that swallowed a spiral; the dark band is the spiral’s dust. Its central black hole drives jets a million light-years long.

The picture hangs at that distance facing Earth, as large as it is on the sky; how deep the object is cannot be seen, so it is flat.

The picture

Taken by: European Southern Observatory
Picture spans: about 82,000 ly
From the Sun: 12.4 million light-years
RA / Dec: 201.37° / -43.02°
Credit: ESO/WFI (Optical); MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A.Weiss et al. (Submillimetre); NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Kraft et al. (X-ray)

Centaurus A

Centaurus A is a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop from his home in Parramatta, in New South Wales, Australia. There is considerable debate in the literature regarding the galaxy's fundamental properties such as its Hubble type and distance.

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