Centaurus A- Latest Pic From Hubble Showing Star Forming Regions.
WOW! Just have a look at all those star forming regions.
What an awesome image!
Quote:
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has produced a close-up view of the galaxy Centaurus A. Hubble's out-of-this-world location and world-class Wide Field Camera 3 instrument reveal a dramatic picture of a dynamic galaxy in flux.
Well I'm not a New Zealander nor Chinese, but as a Sri-Lankan, I see lots of pink ionised gas in that flux picture of Carl's.. yes I do (it's hanging off those green thingies - possible dark matter). I also see lots of blue, seems like oxygen. Yep. Am just trying to find the bok globules in it at the moment, it's difficult... I might need a magnifying glass.
This site is the best of the two main public sites for easy downloading of very large and very high resolution versions of the publicly released HST images.
For instance, you will find an absolutely gigantic version of the N5128 image at this site.
Also, this site has a very good search engine, so you can find HST images of specific objects.
For comparison purposes, and "just for fun", I include the GALEX satellite (Far Ultraviolet plus Near Ultraviolet) image of N5128, which was downloaded from the GalexView virtual telescope on the internet.
The GALEX far-ultraviolet band is extremely sensitive to areas of recent formation of massive and hot stars....it isolates even relatively modest areas where O and B stars have formed.
(see the GalexView "How to" in this forum)
The primary large-scale dark lane of N5128, in "real space", is essentially a rather distorted Barred Spiral galaxy that slices through the short axis of NGC 5128.
(in fact , in three dimensions, the spiral is arrayed along the shortest axis of the elliptical galaxy...... which is shaped like a triaxial ellipsoid; as was found in modelling by Kenneth C. Freeman and colleagues).
While the hot & massive & blue stars in the Dark Lane do look fairly modest in optical imaging,, they blaze "like floodlights" in the GALEX far-ultraviolet band.
Yes, amazing image. Thanks for pointing it out Suzy. Its so amazing clear - looks something you'd expect from JJJ from Astrofest shooting the milky way, not an object 10x10^6 lightyears away
Oh my gosh Nettie, the last time I heard someone call me that was my father who has since passed away. It was nice to hear it again. Was a very heart felt moment indeed.
I'm so glad you'll are enjoying this amazing picture.
Thank you so much Robert for all that wonderful information. As usual, you have given me some great info on Cent.A to think about. He knows how much I like this galaxy.
I took a look at the hubble link you supplied, and it is jaw dropping!!
In your Galex pic, is that faint white stream of gas on top of it around the middle, the jet from the black hole?
It's so great to see this galaxy up close. Here's a direct link to the large scale version: http://www.spacetelescope.org/static.../heic1110a.jpg
It really looks like a Milky Way image. Lots of nebulae and globular clusters scattered everywhere.
Suzy, that's an interesting question....... as to whether the blue material in the GALEX image of NGC 5128 corresponds to the very long jet of ionized gas that emanates from the supermassive black hole at the centre of this galaxy. Remember, blue in these GALEX Satellite images codes for far-ultraviolet light, which is totally blocked by the earth's atmosphere. Mostly, this wavelength of light tends to come from hot & young & massive stars, but I honestly don't know whether or not the plasma in jets like that of Cen A can produce far-ultraviolet light.
The jet is definitely visible in X-rays & in radio observations, and also it is probably faintly visible in the optical regime.
Also, it has been known for some time (a few decades) that some small blue knots of recently formed stars are associated with the Radio/Xray -luminous Plasma Jet.
The question of why stars should form at all in unusual environments such as radio jets and tidal tails, is in itself an interesting one......
In Sydney in 2009, there was a "really totally red hot" conference devoted solely to NGC 5128, and this presented gigantic numbers of images of NGC 5128 at every conceivable wavelength and image scale.
Fortunately for us, there are publicly accessible .pdf files of all the presentations that were given:
//www.atnf.csiro.au/research/cena/programme
and one of the papers that was presented at this conference overlays the GALEX image with the radio image of the jet that originates in the central black hole (or: the Massive Dark Object..... if the object is not a black hole).
I just downloaded 14 (!!) of the most relevant papers from this conference, so I should be able to answer your question, "when I get a Round Tuit"
(I do suffer from data overload...there are ~2000 unanalyzed scientific papers on my disk drive)
Certainly, the pdf files of the conference presentations represent a remarkable resource for anyone interested in the structure and appearance of N5128 at many different wavelengths.
It's so great to see this galaxy up close. Here's a direct link to the large scale version: http://www.spacetelescope.org/static.../heic1110a.jpg
It really looks like a Milky Way image. Lots of nebulae and globular clusters scattered everywhere.
I agree Rolf, wouldn't it be just fabulous to grab a map and a telescope and go crazy on this galaxy! I see oodles of clusters which my eyes are bedazzled with. Aye.. I have a great love for star clusters.
Robert, again, thanks so much for all that info.
I had a look at some of the PDF file. It would have be an amazing conference to attend.
I'm amused that I've asked a question that can't be answered (just yet anyway), it's just typical of me really...
Now see.. this is why I have only observed a handful of galaxies in the past18mths that I have been doing this.. I spend far too much time studying them, including the pictures of them, which in itself I treat like an observation session.
NGC 5128 is one of the most complex objects known, though part of this complexity is simply due to the fact that it is nearby [about 12.4 (+/- 0.32) million light years according to the latest work] and has therefore had more study than more distant objects.
A lot of other objects would probably reveal a similar complexity if they were studied in greater detail.
The questions surrounding the role of the jet in causing the formation of the blue knots seen in the field of NGC 5128 are not answered as yet, as you have correctly stated!
GALEX imagery is very new, and a lot of the GALEX images have not been looked at in any detail, so it is not surprising that professional astronomers are still trying to understand what it all means. In astronomy today, we are extremely rich (and getting ever richer) in imaging data, but there are actually very few people thinking about this imaging data compared to the truckloads of images constantly coming in.
Just looking at all those lit up hydrogen clouds, it makes you wonder what "orion nebs" are visible from the outer arms over there (not to mention all the M16s, M8s, etc!). Maybe there's even a "Hubble 2" imaging a faint but local barred-spiral nearby that's captured a tiny little yellowy dot (our sun)
(I've got to stop watching Cosmos re-runs. That's Ron's fault!)
Carl.
He knows how much I like this galaxy. 
I see oodles of clusters which my eyes are bedazzled with. Aye.. I have a great love for star clusters.
It would have be an amazing conference to attend.
