Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                 2023 May 3
   [2]A long duration image of the unusual galaxy Centaurus A. The galaxy
    appears as a light oval with a complex dark dust lane running across
        its center. A starfield surrounds the galaxy. Please see the
                 explanation for more detailed information.

                   Centaurus A: A Peculiar Island of Stars
     Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Marco Lorenzi, Angus Lau & Tommy Tse;
                Text: [4]Natalia Lewandowska ([5]SUNY Oswego)

   Explanation: Galaxies are fascinating. In [6]galaxies, gravity alone
   holds together massive collections of stars, dust, interstellar gas,
   stellar remnants and dark matter. [7]Pictured is NGC 5128, better known
   as Centaurus A. [8]Cen A is the fifth brightest galaxy on the sky and
   is located at a distance of about 12 million light years from Earth.
   The warped shape of Cen A is the result of a [9]merger between an
   [10]elliptical and a [11]spiral galaxy. Its [12]active galactic nucleus
   harbors a [13]supermassive black hole that is about [14]55 million
   times more massive than our Sun. This central black hole ejects a fast
   [15]jet visible in both [16]radio and [17]X-ray light. Filaments of the
   jet are visible in red in the upper left. New [18]observations by the
   [19]Event Horizon Telescope have revealed a brightening of the jet only
   towards its edges -- but for reasons that are [20]currently unknown and
   an active topic of research.

                      At NASA it's: [21]Black Hole Week
                  Tomorrow's picture: black hole revisited
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([36]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply.
              [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC,
                         [42]NASA Science Activation
                           & [43]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2305/NGC5128_Lorenzi_3000.jpg
   3. https://www.glitteringlights.com/About/About-Me
   4. https://www.oswego.edu/physics/natalia-lewandowska
   5. https://www.oswego.edu/physics/
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy
   7. https://www.glitteringlights.com/Images/Galaxies/i-rXzDxS3/A
   8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaurus_A
   9. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006ApJ...645.1092Q/abstract
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040616.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171226.html
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_galactic_nucleus
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermassive_black_hole
  14. https://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/radio-particle-jets.html
  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysical_jet
  16. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/05_radiowaves
  17. https://science.nasa.gov/ems/11_xrays
  18. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01417-w
  19. https://eventhorizontelescope.org/
  20. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nM9qpNo6DzQ/maxresdefault.jpg
  21. https://universe.nasa.gov/black-hole-week/participate/the-big-event/
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230502.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  31. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=230503
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230504.html
  33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  42. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  43. http://www.mtu.edu/