半人马座A

2022年3月17日

Centaurus A
Image Credit & Copyright: David Alemazkour

Explanation: A mere 11 million light-years away, Centaurus A is the closest active galaxy to planet Earth. Spanning over 60,000 light-years, the peculiar elliptical galaxy also known as NGC 5128, is featured in this sharp telescopic view. Centaurus A is apparently the result of a collision of two otherwise normal galaxies resulting in a fantastic jumble of star clusters and imposing dark dust lanes. Near the galaxy’s center, leftover cosmic debris is steadily being consumed by a central black hole with a billion times the mass of the Sun. As in other active galaxies, that process likely generates the enormous radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray energy radiated by Centaurus A.

Tomorrow’s picture: pixels in space

半人马座A
影像提供与版权: David Alemazkour

说明: 距离只有1千1百万光年远的半人马座A（Centaurus A），是离地球最近的活跃星系。这个亦名为NGC 5128的椭圆特殊星系，宽度超过60,000光年。半人马座A很显然是二个原来正常的星系碰撞之产物，而此次互撞，也产生了混乱堆积的大质量星团和广袤的黝黑尘埃带。在星系的核心附近，碰撞后孑遗下来的碎片，持续的被质量高达10亿倍太阳的核心黑洞所吞噬。就如同其他的活跃星系一样，这类的过程，可能驱动了半人马座A在电波、X-射线与伽玛射线波段发出巨量的辐射。

明日的图片: pixels in space