星系半人马A的壳层结构与喷流

星系半人马A的壳层结构与喷流

The Shells and Jets of Galaxy Centaurus A
Image Credit: Rolf Olsen

Explanation: What’s the closest active galaxy to planet Earth? That would be Centaurus A, cataloged as NGC 5128, which is only 12 million light-years distant. Forged in a collision of two otherwise normal galaxies, Centaurus A shows several distinctive features including a dark dust lane across its center, outer shells of stars and gas, and jets of particles shooting out from a supermassive black hole at its center. The featured image captures all of these in a composite series of visible light images totaling over 310 hours captured over the past 10 years with a homebuilt telescope operating in Auckland, New Zealand. The brightness of Cen A’s center from low-energy radio waves to high-energy gamma rays underlies its designation as an active galaxy.

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星系半人马A的壳层结构与喷流
影像提供: Rolf Olsen

说明: 何者是距离地球最近的活跃星系？答案是半人马A（Centaurus A），这个编录号为NGC 5128、距离我们约只有1,200万光年远的星系。半人马A是2个本来很正常的星系互撞所形成的，拥有数个可清楚分辨的特征，包括横过中心前方的黝黑尘埃带、外围壳层状的恒星与气体、及源自中心超大质量黑洞的粒子喷流。这张总曝光时间为310小时，组合自过去10年间使用自制望远镜，在新西兰 奥克兰拍摄的一系列可见光照片的主题影像，清晰的捕捉到上述的所有特征。半人马A的星系核，从低能量无线电波到高能量伽马射线的所有波段都很明亮，不负它活跃星系的分类。

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