The Hamburger
Welcome to NGC5128 or Centaurus A or The Hamburger.
This is a close neighbouring galaxy to the Milky Way. It lies about 12,000,000 Ly distant and is an active galaxy. In the centre of the Galaxy lies a Million Solar Mass Black Hole. The gravity of this enormous black hole attracts the stars and gas in the middle of the galaxy. The gas and stars falling in creates a disc of material which gets superheated due to the compression of the gravity of the black hole. The super hot material radiates its energy in radio and X-rays. The point directly above and below the disc of infalling matter allows for most of the energy to escape in jets. These jets will effect the galaxy itself and as you can see the galaxy appears to be elongated slightly off the vertical. The bark lane across the middle of the galaxy is not the infalling dust and gas. Rather it is the remains of another galaxy that Centaurus A has canablised in the past. The glow of the stars is being blocked from view. This Galaxy is very large by any standard being several times the size of the Milky Way.
This image is a composite of 3 five minutes images taken with a Nikon D300. The camera was attached to a 6” refractor on a mount to compensate for the earths rotation.
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Raquel Bourne
WOW! this is amazing!
Andrew Murrell replied
Thanks very much Raquel, I think so to.
Ingrid77
wonderful!!!!!!!
Andrew Murrell replied
Thank you very much Ingrid.
Paul Woloschuk
Another cracking ‘astro-shot’ Andrew!
Andrew Murrell replied
Thanks Paul.
TheBlindHog
Oh, lordy, Andrew, what a fantastic image and description. Th univers is a place of unimaginable and frightening immenseness. And stars that eat other galaxies – wow!
Andrew Murrell replied
Galaxies eat other galaxies, Black holes eat anything and everything, Stars join their own version of weight watchers and then usually explode if they dont loose anough mass. There will be stars where the preasure has turned their carbon into diamonds and stars where 1 teaspoon of their material will weigh more than Mt Everest.
It is a truely amazing place.
Thanks for the great comment.
annalisa56
Woww…stunning !!!
Andrew Murrell replied
Thank you very much
Gary Lengyel
Wow is right! Outstanding! But isn’t Andromeda closer at 2m LY?
Andrew Murrell replied
Andromeda is part of the Local Group of Galaxies. A group of about 40 galaxies mostly dwarfs that orbit the 2 main members, the Milky way and Andromeda. Yea Andromeda is about 2,000,000 Ly distant.
The Galaxy Centaurus A is a member of another close group associated with M83, another spiral galaxy a little smaller than our own. this group lies about 12-15,000,000 Ly away.
Sorry to everyone if it sound a bit like a lecture, I love my Astronomy
Thanks for a great comment by the way Gary.
RickF
Awesome shot!
Andrew Murrell replied
Thanks Rick.
ozzzywoman
Your description of a black hole sounds like one of my son’s friends! But seriously, this is a most excellent astronomy pic.
Andrew Murrell replied
Sounds a bit like a few peeople I know. One of them has a 5 minute ruke for the ground. Thanks for the support.
traveller
Love your star shots, Andrew, the explanations are always very informative; its a very facinating subject. I have a good friend and retired professor of astronomy from Bonn university, Ulrich Meybol, we have some wonderfull discussions when he visits.
Andrew Murrell replied
Thanks for the comment I appreciate it.
Vicki Ferrari
You are just amazing Andrew!! Was this out at Coonabarabran still? (i miss the bush!!! So much!) This is just an incredible image and the information you supply is always so fascinating, the way you tell it….. Fave!
Andrew Murrell replied
I am very flattered there Vicki…
Yes back out at Coona for this one. Its easy for me to get these style of shots there as my friend has the telescope set up permanetly, so all I do is get the camera attached. A bit of a cheat really.
Geoff Coleman...
Exquisitely beautiful and absolutely fascinating – not a friendly place to live by the sound of it, but what a wonder.
Andrew Murrell replied
Would be an interesting place to visit but not to live I must agree. Still, at times this galaxy is not a nice place to be either. The Milky Way also has a Multi Million Solar Mass Black Hole in the centre, just at the moment it is between main courses.
Thanks for a great comment as well Geoff.
Leeo
Amazing image & info. Thanks for sharing :)
Andrew Murrell replied
My pleasure is sharing both the image and the information. thanks for a great comment.
Liz Percival
Beautiful shot Andrew.
Andrew Murrell replied
Thank you very much Liz.
van049
WOW!!!! INCREDIBLE, BEAUTIFUL CAPTURE ANDREW!!!!!!!!!xxx
Andrew Murrell replied
Thank you for a great comment
Shelley Warbrooke
The description makes this image so much more awe inspiring. It’s overwhelming terrifying and exciting all in the same instant. Another mind boggling shot, Andrew.
Andrew Murrell replied
Thank you Shelley, never really sure if I put to much info in the description.
Daniel Peut
I’m loving the astronomy shots mate, well done
Andrew Murrell replied
Thanks Daniel