Cygnus A |
 | Minimum credit line: Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI
(for details, see .
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The radio source Cygnus A is produced in a galaxy some 600 million
light-years away. The radio waves are coming from electrons
propelled at nearly the speed of light through a long, thin "jet"
at the core of the galaxy and deposited in giant "radio lobes."
It is here where the speeding electrons are trapped by the magnetic
field around the galaxy to produce radio waves much like the Van
Allen radiation belts around the Earth. Where did all the electrons
come from? From the bright, small radio component in the center of
the galaxy -- the location of a black hole.
Investigator(s): R. Perley, C. Carilli & J. Dreher This image is available in the following downloadable versions:
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If you would like to obtain a higher resolution version of this image,
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Telescope
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VLA
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Date of Observation
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1983-02-01
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Type of Observation
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Continuum Observations
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Band
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C
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Wavelength
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6cm
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Frequency
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5 GHz
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Center of Image
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RA: 19:59:28.45, Dec: 40:44:2.00
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Field of View
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0.0383 x 0.0217 degrees
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Technical Caption
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5 GHz, 0.5'' resolution. The galaxy is at a redshift of 0.057
(distance = 230 Mpc = 760 Mly).
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