Centaurus A! A weird and challenging galaxy…
Our new home has clear views of the sky down to about 15 degrees from the horizon; which means some objects that are normally considered only visible from the Southern hemisphere just peek above our trees for a few hours.
One such object is the galaxy Centaurus A; it’s an odd galaxy that looks like a spiral about to merge with an elliptical galaxy. In radio and X-Ray wavelength, massive relativistic jets moving at half the speed of light can be seen getting emitted from a supermassive black hole at this galaxy’s core. It’s relatively close as galaxies go – between 10 and 16 light-years, we’re not exactly sure – and the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky.
Fortunately, that brightness means we can capture it even when it’s only visible for a couple of hours, low in the sky within the light pollution of the cities to our South. It felt good nabbing this image!
