EINSTEIN@HOME - Team FreeBSD

A team dedicated to the users of FreeBSD running BOINC under linux compatibility mode, or a native FreeBSD BOINC build. Team FreeBSD is dedicated to users of FreeBSD, but not limited to JUST the users. Anyone with the interest in developing a community of people interested in technology, open standards, NIX or BSD based operating systems are welcome and encouraged to earn credits and share ideas and conversation.

« | »   Return to FreeBSD HOME

the most massive Black Hole nearest to us

26 May, 2008 13:19 CST6CDT

Also known as:
NGC5128, Centaurus A
Object Type: Galaxy; Central Black Hole; Elliptical; Active Galactic Nucleus; Quasar

"Astronomers obtained an unprecedented look at the nearest example of galactic cannibalism: a massive black hole hidden at the center of a nearby giant galaxy, called Centaurus A, that is feeding on a smaller galaxy in a spectacular collision. Such fireworks were common in the early universe, as galaxies formed and evolved, but are rare today. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows the merged Centaurus A galaxy, officially called NGC 5128, with a dramatic dark lane of dust girdling the galaxy. Blue clusters of newborn stars are clearly resolved, and silhouettes of dust filaments are interspersed with blazing orange-glowing gas. Located only 10 million light-years away, this peculiar-looking galaxy contains the closest active galactic nucleus to Earth and has long been considered an example of an elliptical galaxy disrupted by a recent collision with a smaller companion spiral galaxy..." -- Google Earth

Simulation of NGC5128, Centaurus A

"The Hubble telescope offers a stunning unprecedented close-up view of a turbulent firestorm of star birth along a nearly edge-on dust disk girdling Centaurus A, the nearest active galaxy to Earth. The picture at upper left shows the entire galaxy. The blue outline represents Hubble's field of view. The larger, central picture is Hubble's close-up view of the galaxy. Brilliant clusters of young blue stars lie along the edge of the dark dust lane. Outside the rift the sky is filled with the soft hazy glow of the galaxy's much older resident population of red giant and red dwarf stars." -- http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1998/14

Here is a Google Earth KML file I created with the location and stunning high detailed image of this black hole: NGC5128.kml

Comment (0) :: Permalink

For those of you wondering what the EINSTEIN@HOME Project is:

Einstein@Home is a program that uses your computer's idle time to search for spinning neutron stars (also called pulsars) using data from the LIGO gravitational wave detector. It also searches for radio pulsars in binary systems, using data from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Einstein@Home is a World Year of Physics 2005 and an International Year of Astronomy 2009 project supported by the American Physical Society (APS) and by a number of international organizations.

My name is Andy Wright - the founder, but really the creator of Team FreeBSD. If you want me to add any links, or have any questions or inclinations for such things related to our group (or to just say hi) - send me an e-mail: einstein@extracted.org or Skype name: extracted

''It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure'' -- Albert Einstein

Total Credit, Last 60 days (based on the daily update numbers)

Total Credit, last months

Credit per day, Last 60 days (based on the daily update numbers)

World Position History, lower is better, Last 60 days (based on the daily update numbers)

World Position History, lower is better, last months

EINSTEIN@HOME RSS Feed