Astronomy: The dark heart of a cosmic collision

Hi My Friends: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., Two of ESA’s space observatories have combined to create a multi-wavelength view of violent events taking place within the giant galaxy of Centaurus A. The new observations strengthen the view that it may have been created by the cataclysmic collision of two older galaxies.

The peculiar galaxy Centaurus A in the far-infrared and X-rays. Inner structural features seen in this image are helping scientists to understand the mechanisms and interactions within the galaxy, as are the jets seen extending over thousands of light years from the black hole believed to be at its heart. Newly-discovered clouds co-aligned with the jets can also be seen in the far-infrared data, which are coloured red and orange. The X-ray image data in this combined picture are shown in blue/cyan/purple and highlight the highly energetic jet region as well as structures that co-align with the far-infrared and X-ray jet (top left).

Credits: Far-infrared: ESA/Herschel/PACS/SPIRE/C.D. Wilson, MacMaster University, Canada; X-ray: ESA/XMM-Newton/EPIC

Two of ESA’s space observatories have combined to create a multi-wavelength view of violent events taking place within the giant galaxy of Centaurus A. The new observations strengthen the view that it may have been created by the cataclysmic collision of two older galaxies.

Centaurus A is the closest giant elliptical galaxy to Earth, at a distance of around 12 million light-years. It stands out for harbouring a massive black hole at its core and emitting intense blasts of radio waves.
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Multi wavelength video of Centaurus A Credits: ESA
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The classic visible light view of Centaurus A.

Credits: ESO/MPG 2.2-m telescope on La Silla
While previous images taken in visible light have hinted at a complex inner structure in Centaurus A, combining the output of two of ESA’s observatories working at almost opposite ends of the electromagnetic spectrum reveals the unusual structure in much greater detail.
The galaxy was notably observed by Sir John Herschel in 1847 during his survey of the southern skies. Now, over 160 years later, the observatory bearing his family name has played a unique role in uncovering some of its secrets.
New images taken with the Herschel space observatory with unprecedented resolution at far-infrared wavelengths show that the giant black scar of obscuring dust crossing the centre of Centaurus A all but disappears.

Herschel image of Centaurus A combined from data from the Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) at 100 microns and Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) instruments at 250, 350, and 500 microns reveals spectacular detail. The PACS image glows almost golden yellow in the core of the galaxy, where intense star formation is taking place. This parallelogram shaped region of dust can be best described using galaxy formation models where a flat spiral galaxy collides with an elliptical galaxy, and becomes warped in the process. The SPIRE data shown in red shows the jets and surrounding clouds. The observations also reveal for the first time two new clouds at the SPIRE wavelengths which are co-aligned with the jets, at distances of around 50 000 light years from the centre of the galaxy. These are visible only due to Herschel’s extreme sensitivity to emissions from the cold dust at temperatures not far above absolute zero.

Credits: ESA/Herschel/PACS/SPIRE/C.D. Wilson, MacMaster University, Canada
The Herschel data also uncover evidence for intense star birth towards the centre of the galaxy along with two jets emanating from the galaxy’s core – one of them 15 000 light-years long. Newly-discovered clouds co-aligned with the jets can also be seen in the far-infrared.
“The sensitivity of the Herschel observations enables us to see not only the glow from dust in and around the galaxy, but also emission from electrons in the jets spiralling in magnetic fields at velocities close to the speed of light,” explains Göran Pilbratt, Herschel Project Scientist.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM2FDEWF0H_index_0.html
The highly-energetic jet seen in this XMM-Newton X-ray view is believed to be emanate from a super massive black hole in the centre of the galaxy, over a million times the mass of the Sun. With the X-ray observations only one jet is seen clearly in the images, compared to the two jets seen in the Herschel observations. This is due to a line of sight effect, whereby the brightness of a jet in X-rays coming towards the observer position is significantly greater than that of one moving away from the observer.

Credits: ESA/XMM-Newton/EPIC
ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory recorded the high-energy glow from one of the jets, extending over 12 000 light years away from the galaxy’s bright nucleus.
XMM-Newton’s X-ray view shows not only the way that the jet interacts with the surrounding interstellar matter, but also the galaxy’s intensely active nucleus, and its large gaseous halo.
“XMM-Newton is well suited to detecting extended weak X-ray emission, often allowing us to see halos around galaxies for the first time,” notes Norbert Schartel, XMM-Newton Project Scientist.
The jets seen by both satellites are evidence of the supermassive black hole – ten million times the mass of our Sun – at the centre of the galaxy.

The component images that make up this new multi-wavelength composite of Centaurus A. Clear correlation is seen between the jet features at far-infrared wavelengths and how they interact with their surroundings in the visible light view from the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory.

Credits: Far-infrared: ESA/Herschel/PACS/SPIRE/C.D. Wilson, MacMasterUniversity, Canada; X-ray: ESA/XMM-Newton/EPIC; visible: ESO/MPG 2.2-m telescope on La Silla
This unique collaboration, alongside observations from the ground in visible light, has given us a new perspective on the drama in objects like Centaurus A, with a black hole, star birth, and the clashing of two distinct galaxies all rolled in to one. ESA.
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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