Centaurus A (also known as NGC 5128 or Caldwell 77) is a galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus.
In visible light, the galaxy seems elegant and beautiful - an elliptical central bulge surrounded by a gracefully warped swath. But in radio waves and X-rays, its true nature of violence and chaos is revealed - a monstrous, actively feeding black hole gobbling up everything nearby, shooting its victim’s corpses into space, and twisting the whole galaxy in the process.
The black hole and its feeding events are not visible in this image, but studies in radio and x-ray reveal a truly spectacular scene:
https://youtu.be/bOjCrVQusYIThe jets are so powerful that their trails extend far beyond the galaxy itself, stretching millions of lightyears into space. Interestingly, some models suggest that the jet materials can eventually cool down and fall back to the black hole, creating a feeding cycle.
(The data was acquired from Telescopelive, which I processed using pixinsight and photoshop)
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