Hubble Finds Twisted Gas Disk from Galaxy Collision Fueling Nearst Active Black Hole

Turbulent Cauldron of Starbirth in Galaxy Centaurus A, With Ground View (inset)

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope offers a stunning unprecedented close-up view of a turbulent firestorm of starbirth along a nearly edge-on dust disk girdling Centaurus A, the nearest active galaxy to Earth. A ground-based telescopic view (upper left insert) shows that the dust...

Centaurus A: the Inside Story

Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to probe the core of the nearest active galaxy to Earth, Centaurus A. [UPPER LEFT] - A close-up high resolution Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 image of the dramatic dust disk which is thought to be the remnant of a smaller...

Nearby Galaxy Centaurus A

Ground-Based Color Composite NOAO CTIO 4m 1975

Nucleus of Galaxy Centaurus A

NICMOS Pa-alpha/continuum composite

VLA 6cm (Radio) 1988

NOAO/CTIO (Ground)

Centaurus A galaxy, type EO peculiar elliptical, also radio source. CTIO 4-meter telescope, 1975. NGC 5128, a Type EO peculiar elliptical galaxy in the constellation Centaurus. This galaxy is one of the most luminous and massive galaxies known and is a strong source of both...

Galaxy Centaurus A

Nucleus of Galaxy Centaurus A

NICMOS Pa-alpha/continuum composite

VLA and Optical

Einstein X-ray 1979 deconvolved

Einstein with Radio contours

NGC 4261 WFPC with illustration of jet.

Feeding a Black Hole in the Centaurus A Galaxy

From the NICMOS image we have seen that behind the obscuring dust, inside the Centaurus A Galaxy, there are a hot gas disk and a twisted jet and disk around a feeding black hole.

Simulation of a Merger between an Elliptical and a Spiral Galaxy

Simulation of a merger between an elliptical and a spiral galaxy that may have shaped Centaurus A, dissolving to match to the ground-based image of the galaxy.

Back Hole 'Feeding' Diagram

HST/NICMOS image with superimposed diagram to identify the nucleus, the elongated disk and the jet.

Centaurus A: Feeding a Black Hole

Zoom Sequence: Ground-based image of Centaurus A, ZOOM into the Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 Camera images of Centaurus A and its Nucleus, DISSOLVE in the HST NICMOS infrared image. The animation shows what is seen from the NICMOS image: inside the galaxy are a hot gas disk and...

Space Science Update: Hubble Provides Multiple Views Of How To Feed A Black Hole (Webbcast)