Facts about Centaurus A Galaxy
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Centaurus A's outer halo contains tidal shells and streams of stars, evidence that this elliptical galaxy cannibalized a smaller spiral galaxy within the last billion years.
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A 2009 study using the Chandra X-ray Observatory detected approximately 15 ultraluminous X-ray sources within Centaurus A, suggesting abundant stellar-mass black holes feeding on companion stars.
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Centaurus A emits across nearly the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma rays, due to its active galactic nucleus powered by matter infalling toward the central black hole.
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Observations at 1.3 millimeters wavelength reveal Centaurus A's central black hole accretion disk rotates at approximately 1000 kilometers per second, among the fastest known in any galaxy.
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Centaurus A lies approximately 13.7 million light-years away, making it the fifth-closest active galaxy to Earth and the nearest radio galaxy to our Milky Way.
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Centaurus A's dust lane, a striking band of cosmic material bisecting the elliptical galaxy, contains enough material to form roughly one billion stars like our Sun.
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The supermassive black hole at the center of Centaurus A weighs approximately 55 million solar masses, powering one of the most energetic active galactic nuclei known.
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Centaurus A's relativistic jets extend approximately 4 million light-years from the galaxy's core, making them among the largest structures in the observable universe.