Arp 153

Halton Arp rightly included this galaxy in his “pecilar galaxies” catalog when it was discovered long before him in the constellation Zentauer.

It is also known as NGC 5128 and is a strong natural radio source. It is also a strong source of X-rays and gamma rays.

NGC 5128 has an angular extent of about the size of the moon and, with an apparent brightness of 6.6 mag, is no longer visible to the naked eye. Centaurus A, as it is also called, is nevertheless one of the apparently brightest galaxies and thus belongs to the group of the brightest extragalactic objects in the night sky.

The distances are around 15 million light years. It is part of the M83 group. It is the closest radio galaxy and the third brightest radio source in the sky. Its characteristic optical features are, on the one hand, the clearly visible dust band that crosses the galaxy.

A relativistic jet is emitted from the core. Due to its proximity, it is one of the best-studied active galaxies. A black hole with a mass of 55 million solar masses is suspected at its center.

Eric Benson has succeeded in obtaining extremely flawless raw image material at his remote observatory in Arkaroola, about 700 km north of Adelaide. This data has made it possible, through painstakingly detailed work, to show the effects of the core jet that can even be seen in visible light, which is the second optical characteristic. This representation is very rarely found in amateur photographs.

Coordinates:
RA: 13h 25m 27.6s
DC: -43° 01′ 09″

Exposure time:
55 hours