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Herschel
Space Observatory

An ESA Mission
with Participation from NASA

Nhsc2012-005b

The Action-Packed Centaurus A

This Herschel Space Observatory image of Centaurus A combines long-wavelength infrared data from its Photoconductor Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) taken at 100 microns, and its Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) instruments at 250, 350 and 500 microns. 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 center 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

Image Details
Date
April 4, 2012
ID
nhsc2012-005b
Type
Observation
Credit
ESA/Herschel/PACS/SPIRE/C.D. Wilson, MacMaster University, Canada
Object Details
Color Mapping
Telescope Spectral Band Color Assigment Wavelength
Herschel (PACS) Infrared Green 100.0 µm
Herschel (SPIRE) Infrared Red 250.0 µm
Herschel (SPIRE) Infrared Red 350.0 µm
Herschel (SPIRE) Infrared Red 500.0 µm