Centaurus A radio galaxy- as seen by ALMA

This new image of the centre of the distinctive galaxy Centaurus A, made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), shows how the new observatory allows astronomers to see through the opaque dust lanes that obscure the galaxy’s centre, with unprecedented quality.   Image credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); ESO/Y. Beletsky

The new ALMA observations, currently in its Early Science phase, shown in a range of green, yellow and orange colors, reveal the position and motion of the clouds of gas in the galaxy.

Centaurus A radio galaxy- as seen by ALMA

The observatory has just issued the Call for Proposals for its next cycle of observations, in which the growing telescope will have increased capabilities.

Centaurus A is a massive elliptical radio galaxy — a galaxy which emits strong radio waves — and is the most prominent, as well as by far the nearest, radio galaxy in the sky. Centaurus A has therefore been observed with many different telescopes. Its very luminous centre hosts a supermassive black hole with a mass of about 100 million times that of the Sun.

Centaurus A radio galaxy, star map

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