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ESO
The galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is pictured in this image, taken with by the Wide Field Imager attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile. With a total exposure time of more than 50 hours, this could be deepest view of Centaurus A ever created.
Astronomers are taking a long, deep look at one of the best-known galaxies beyond our own Milky Way, to learn more about what happened when it gobbled up another agglomeration of stars that got too close.
The entrails of the gobbled galaxy are prominent in this view of Centaurus A, a galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. The bright haze of stars is the typical signature of an elliptical galaxy, but the dark, swirling band of dust around the center is a tip-off that the "A" in Centaurus A stands for "atypical."
Scientists believe the band represents the dusty leftovers of the galaxy that has been consumed in a gravitationally driven merger. Flashes of fresh hot stars can be seen along the edges of the band. It's thought that an energetic black hole, 100 million times as massive as our sun, is blasting out strong radio emissions from the center of the haze.
Much of this has been seen before, in previous images of Centaurus A. But today's image, captured by the Wide Field Imager on the European Southern Observatory's MPG/ESO 2.2-meter telescope in Chile, reveals extra details. That's because the camera exposure lasted for more than 50 hours, making this one of the deepest views of Centaurus A ever produced.
One reddish filament of material is visible above the left edge of the dark band. A fainter filament can be made out near the upper left corner of the picture. These filaments, hotbeds for infant stars, appear to line up with radio-emitting jets that are being spewed out from the central black hole. Such features can help astronomers reconstruct how Centaurus A gobbled a galaxy in the first place, and how the remains are being digested. Further studies, involving ESO's ALMA Observatory, will shed additional light on the scene.
A video from the European Southern Observatory zooms in on telescope views of Centaurus A, a giant cannibal galaxy.
More about the gobbling galaxy:
- Hubble spies a firestorm of starbirth
- Giant galaxy caught in mid-gobble
- Snapshot reveals a black hole's jets
- Cosmic collision probably spawned huge galaxy
- Scientists find 'normal' black hole in Centaurus A
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Hey Alan...How do they do a fifty hour exposure with the rotation of the Earth? I have the picture of the colliding galaxies that's 10 billion light years away for my desktop background.
Although I am not Alan, I have an explanation for ya. The 50 hr exposure is possible because Chile is in the Southern hemisphere and the constellation Centaurus is rather far South. Where the observatory is located, it has a 24 hr view of the Galaxy NCG 5128 (the Earth does not get in the way at all) and even though half that time is in daylight, the observatory is high enough that it is able to see through the scattered sun's rays. Also, by shielding the lenses from the direct rays of the sun, it is easily able to see through the scattered sunlight, just as someone deep in a well is able to see stars during the day as if it were late twilight. So, altogether, it is not at all unusual to be able to get a 50 hr exposure in the direction that they were looking. Hope this helps some.
It's more likely that they simply "stacked" exposures taken on different nights. That's easy to do with modern cameras and software. Even amateurs are doing it (but not quite with this kind of result!).
Amazing video ....
Makes you feel a bit tiny in our universe .... "LOL"
Thanks Alan ....
Almost as tiny, as when one views the earth from space and see The fine " Silver slither " that is our atmosphere, that in comparison to an egg shell is far thinner, and YOU and I are within it, and many of US fail to appreciate the " Fine line of Life And Death "!!
More like take for granted.
Eagle A, sorry to quibble, but I think you mean "silver sliver". Slither is what a snake does.
I still got his point ....
Sometimes we feel in vincible ....
But it's usually temporary ....
Have fun ....
#2.3 Thank you Mike.
so true,if you look at the photo taken by the voyager space craft of our planet earth,it is but a speck,.I think the universe is teaming with life,its just that its really really big.The distances are enormous .
#2.6 Life, is very finicky, even on our planet many will point out that life is a " miracle " considering that the sun radiation would kill us, if it was not for the " magic " of the earth numerous " shields " take the time and read up on it, then have a look at what some claim about the odds as given on this numeral 10^29345
I'm wondering about the 50 hr exposure myself. Even if you had a 24 hr/day view of the galaxy, it would appear to be rotating from our vantage point. You would have to rotate the telescope and change the angle and deal with daylight. I'm NOT an expert or knowledgable about this, but my guess is that they accumulate exposure time over a number of days or weeks, viewing the galaxy at roughly the same time at night.
Mostly correct, except it doesn't even need to be the same time each night, because the telescope itself rotates to keep the target in the field of view and maintain the same angle and orientation in the camera. So probably several hours each night for several nights.
Alan, that title made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the great posts, as always.
Supposition: ALL black holes are anti-matter; small, massive or super massive. Aside from theory, is there any physical experiment possible to test the nature of black hole composition? Matter, of course, is captured by black holes but this does not make them matter. Are black holes 100% pure energy? Can this be tested (again, aside from theories)?
The top right theres a smudge resembles a far mor distant galaxy is that what it is. Theres also another bottom right. U may have to zoom the photo.
Good spotting!
Rather than zooming the image in the story above, may I suggest getting a higher-resolution version?
http://www.eso.org/public/archives/images/large/eso1221a.jpg
(Caution - 30 Mb image.)
Zoom in on THAT and you can see that there are hundreds of even more distant galaxies in that frame.
At even higher resolution one may find galaxies behind those, as well (link available if anyone would like it - it is a 170 Mb image, so not for the faint of heart, slow of internet, or full of hard drive).
The Universe is big. Really big.
#6.1
Indeed most " dots " are not stars but Galaxies and some galactic clusters, the more one looks the more complex it becomes, just a thoughts many Nova, are the Genesis of whole systems, so birth and death is a game that the Universe is a participant in!
It's like postcards from Paris: fun to look at, but better to go and see for yourself. May I hitch a ride with one of you clever fellows who will (someday) figure a way to do it?