Centaurus A (NGC 5128) ESO/Y. Beletsky
When viewed in visual light Centaurus A (NGC5128) appears to have a massive amount of dust obscuring much of the galaxies inner working. When viewed with ESO’s 3.58-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT) at La Silla Observatory in near infrared the remains of Centaurus’s last meal is visible. Astronomers can now see the remains of a smaller spiral galaxy that Centaurus A cannibalized 200-700 million years ago. The structure that the research team observed is a clear ring of stars and clusters that were hidden by the dust clouds within Centaurus A.
The technique that was used by the team observing Centaurus A used a new method of combining three infrared images (filters J, H and K) to remove the obscuring layers, opening up a wealth of information. There are many possibilities when combining filtered images and the data gathered could help scientists research the formation and destruction of galaxies in new and useful ways.
Centaurus A has been studied by many scientists over the years and this new information is adding to the wealth of information about our closest elliptical neighbor. Centaurus A is approximately 11 million light years away and hosts a super-massive black hole in its core which is around 200 times the mass of our sun. This black hole appears to be actively feeding and is giving off the brightest radio sources in the sky and has fascinated astronomers for years. With the new telescopes being planned in the radio frequency, like the square kilometer array, more information can be obtained about Centaurus A that will deepen our understanding of the nature of active black holes, what happens when galaxies combine and how gas clouds assist in the formation of new stars. For more information about this research head over to the Astronomy and Astrophysics journal.
Comments