Abstract
The galaxy NGC5128, better known as the powerful radio source Centaurus A, is a puzzling object appearing as an elliptical galaxy crossed by a dense lane of dust and gas. Its structure and evolution are not well understood, although this object is quite near (we shall adopt 5 Mpc following Burbidge and Burbidge1), bright, and has been widely observed in the past few years. We have obtained the first complete velocity field of the ionized gas in NGC5128, with a 10-kms−1 precision, from Perot–Fabry interferometry with the ESO 3.6-m telescope. It shows that the gas is rotating in a thick disk (∼1 kpc thickness), without any evidence of the perturbations expected from the encounter of an elliptical and a spiral galaxy. Our observations favour the hypothesis of the evolution of a spiral galaxy in which the formation of the disk is very late compared with the bulge.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burbidge, E. M. & Burbidge, G. Astrophys. J. 129, 271–281 (1959).
Sersic, J. L. Nature 224, 253–254 (1969).
Graham, J. A. Astrophys. J. 232, 60–73 (1979).
Dufour, R. J. et al. Astr. J. 84, 284–301 (1979).
Marcelin, M. & Milliard, B. Ann. Phys. Fr. 4, 139–146 (1979).
Boulesteix, J. & Courtès, G. The Messenger 14, 2–3 (1978).
Pellet, A. et al. Astr. Astrophys. Suppl. 31, 439–460 (1978).
Boulesteix, J., Courtès, G., Laval, A., Monnet, G. & Petit, H. Astr. Astrophys. 37, 33–48 (1974).
Marcelin, M., Boulesteix, J. & Courtès, G. Astr. Astrophys. 108, 134–140 (1982).
Dufour, R. J. & van den Bergh, S. Sky Tel. 56, 389–395 (1978).
Comte, G. Astr. Astrophys. Suppl. 44, 441–450 (1981).
Davoust, E. & de Vaucouleurs, G. Astrophys. J. 242, 30–52 (1980).
Pence, W. D. Astrophys. J. 247, 473–483 (1980).
Courtès, G. Vistas Astr. 14, 81–161 (1972).
Rodgers, A. W. & Harding, P. Astrophys. J. Lett. 236, L17–L21 (1980).
Möllenhoff, C. Astr. Astrophys. 93, 248–254 (1981).
Kunkel, W. E. & Bradt, H. V. Astrophys. J. Lett. 170, L7–L10 (1971).
Whiteoak, J. B. & Gardner, F. F. Proc. astr. Soc. Austr. 3, 319–321 (1979).
Burbidge, E. M., Burbidge, G. R. & Prendergast, K. A. Astrophys. J. 130, 739–748 (1959).
Monnet, G. & Simien, F. Astr. Astrophys. 56, 173–180 (1977).
Freeman, K. C. Astrophys. J. 160, 811–830 (1970).
Faber, S. M. & Jackson, R. E. Astrophys. J. 204, 668–683 (1976).
Illingworth, G. Astrophys. J. 204, 73–93 (1976).
Bertola, F. & Galletta, G. Astrophys. J. Lett. 226, L115–L118 (1978).
Sandage, S. The Rubble Atlas of Galaxies (Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1961).
Ekers, R. D., Gross, W. M., Kotanyi, C. G. & Skellern, D. J. Astr. Astrophys. 69, L21–L24 (1978).
Tubbs, A. D. Astrophys. J. 241, 969–980 (1980).
Larson, R. B. Mon. Not. R. astr. Soc. 176, 31–52 (1976).
Gott, J. R. & Thuan, T. X. Astrophys. J. 204, 649–667 (1976).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marcelin, M., Boulesteix, J., Courtes, G. et al. NGC5128—a galaxy with a recently formed disk. Nature 297, 38–42 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/297038a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/297038a0
This article is cited by
-
Broad-line high-excitation gas in the elliptical galaxy NGC5128
Nature (1984)
-
Mass model of spiral galaxies disk
Astrophysics and Space Science (1983)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
