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Peering into a Galaxy's Dusty Core to Study an Active Supermassive Black Hole

Centaurus A sports a warped central disk of gas and dust, which is evidence of a past collision and merger with another galaxy. It also has an active galactic nucleus that periodically emits jets. It is the fifth brightest galaxy in the sky and only about 13 million light-years away from Earth, making it an ideal target to study an active galactic nucleus – a supermassive black hole emitting jets and winds – with NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope.

 

Image credit: NASA/CXC/C.Lisse & S.Wolk

 

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Uploaded on March 22, 2021