NASA's X-ray telescopes capture nearby radio galaxy with supermassive black hole | See Pic

This image shared by NASA combines data from multiple observatories to highlight the beauty of a nearby radio galaxy in unprecedented detail. Centaurus A, also known as Cen A, is a peculiar galaxy located about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Centaurus.

Cen A represents the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky and is home to a supermassive black hole with the mass of 55 million suns. The black hole is feeding off the gas and dust encircling it and spewing out large jets of high-energy particles and other material that extends for about 13,000 light-years away from the black hole. In this image, the jets appear as thin streams of material that stretch out from the galaxy's center.

Cen A is also known for its prominent dust lane, which extends across its center and obscures the light from the galaxy's central region. It is believed to have resulted from a collision with a smaller galaxy millions of years ago.

This image combines data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory (Blue), the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite (Orange), and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) (white and gray).

Discovered in 1826, Cen A is one of the best-studied objects in the southern hemisphere night sky, thanks to its size and proximity to Earth.

New @chandraxray and IXPE collab!In this image of galaxy Centaurus A, blue shows X-ray light captured by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, orange represents X-rays detected by NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite.Learn more HERE>> https://t.co/jQ8mPN5llx pic.twitter.com/frEvbxIQ51

— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) May 3, 2023