Centaurus A
Centaurus A or NGC 5128 is a prominent galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1826 by Scottish astronomer James Dunlop from his home in Parramatta, in New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the closest radio galaxies to Earth, which means that its galactic nucleus has been extensively studied by professional astronomers. This particular galaxy is also the fifth brightest in the sky. The galaxy contains a supermassive black hole with a mass that is equivalent to 55 million solar masses, which ejects a relativistic jet that is responsible for emissions in the X-ray and radio wavelengths. Like other starburst galaxies, a collision is suspected to be responsible for the intense burst of star formation. Models have suggested that Centaurus A was a large elliptical galaxy which collided and merged with a smaller spiral galaxy. Centaurus A may be described as having a peculiar morphology. As seen from Earth, the galaxy looks like a lenticular or elliptical galaxy with a superimposed dust lane. The peculiarity of this galaxy was first identified in 1847 by John Herschel, and the galaxy was included in Halton Arp's Atlas of
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The dusty disk, however, has been the site of more recent star formation; over 100 star formation regions have been identified in the disk. Two supernovae have been detected in Centaurus A. The first supernova, named SN 1986G, was discovered within the dark dust lane of the galaxy by R. Evans in 1986. It was later identified as a type Ia supernova, which forms when a white dwarf's mass grows large enough to ignite carbon fusion in its center, touching off a runaway thermonuclear reaction, as may happen when a white dwarf in a binary star system strips gas away from the other star. SN 1986G was used to demonstrate that the spectra of type supernovae are not all identical, and that type supernovae may differ in the way that they change in brightness over
The dusty disk, however, has been the site of more recent star formation; over 100 star formation regions have been identified in the disk. Two supernovae have been detected in Centaurus A. The first supernova, named SN 1986G, was discovered within the dark dust lane of the galaxy by R. Evans in 1986. It was later identified as a type Ia supernova, which forms when a white dwarf's mass grows large enough to ignite carbon fusion in its center, touching off a runaway thermonuclear reaction, as may happen when a white dwarf in a binary star system strips gas away from the other star. SN 1986G was used to demonstrate that the spectra of type supernovae are not all identical, and that type supernovae may differ in the way that they change in brightness over