(ORDO NEWS) — In front of you is the lenticular galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128), which occupies an intermediate link between elliptical and spiral galaxies, which is located at a distance of 10-16 million light years from Earth.
The image shows the impressive power of the supermassive black hole that lurks in the heart of Centaurus A. Note the blue-orange jets that originate in the center of the galaxy and scatter in opposite directions.
Such formations are called relativistic jets or jets, which are plasma jets that appear as a result of the interaction of magnetic fields with the accretion disk around a supermassive black hole.
The upper jet extends about 13,000 light-years from the black hole. That’s impressive, given that Centaurus A is 60,000 light-years across. Observations show that the jet material is moving at about 50% of the speed of light.
To create the image were used:
- X-ray data (blue) from NASA‘s Chandra Space Observatory
- Submillimeter data (orange) from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Atacama Pathfinder
- Experiment (APEX) radio telescope
- Optical data from the ESO La Silla Observatory
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.