



The galaxy's black hole generates jets of radio-emitting particles that billow millions of light years out into space. The spectacular sight is invisible to the naked eye.

"If your eyes could see radio waves you would look up in the sky and see the radio glow from this galaxy covering an area 200 times bigger than the full Moon," said the lead scientist for the project, Dr Ilana Feain of CSIRO's Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF).

"Only a small percentage of galaxies are of this kind. They're like the blue whales of space – huge and rare."


"This is the most detailed radio image ever made of Centaurus A, and indeed of any galaxy that produces radio jets," said Dr Lewis Ball, Acting Director of the ATNF.


Dr Feain and her team used CSIRO's Australia Telescope Compact Array telescope near Narrabri, NSW, to observe the galaxy for more than 1200 hours, over several years. This produced 406 individual images, which were 'mosaiced' together to make one large image.

Dr Feain combined the Compact Array data and data taken from CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope.

Processing the image – combining the data, taking out the effects of radio interference, and adjusting the dynamic range – took a further 10,000 hours. Astronomers will use the image to help them understand how black holes and radio jets interact with a galaxy's stars and dust, and how the galaxy has evolved over time.



Dr Feain said the sample of galaxies we have today is just the tip of the iceberg, because current telescopes don't combine the sensitivity needed to detect these sources and the ability to survey large areas of sky.



"ASKAP will be incredibly fast," said Professor Brian Boyle, CSIRO SKA Director. "Gathering the Centaurus A data with the Compact Array took 1200 hours. With ASKAP, it would take five minutes."


Image Credit
Ilana Feain, Tim Cornwell & Ron Ekers (CSIRO/ATNF). ATCA northern middle lobe pointing courtesy R. Morganti (ASTRON), Parkes data courtesy N. Junkes (MPIfR). Photo of the ATCA and Moon: Shaun Amy, CSIRO.