Centaurus A - NGC 5128

Abstract

This review summarizes the state of the knowledge of the nearby (D = 3.4 Mpc) radio source Centaurus A and its host galaxy NGC 5128. The massive elliptical host galaxy appears to be moderately triaxial. It contains a strongly warped thin disk, rich in gas, dust and young stars, and roughly aligned with the minor axis of the elliptical galaxy. This and other evidence suggests that NGC 5128 has experienced a major merger at least once in its past. The subparsec nucleus is variable at radio and X-ray wavelengths and is probably powered by accretion onto a black hole of moderate mass. HI and molecular line absorption against the nucleus suggest significal inflow of material. Linear radio/X-ray jets emanating from the nucleus become subrelativistic at a few parsec, expand into plumes at about 5 kpc, and then turn into huge radio lobes extending out to 250 kpc. A compact disk surrounds the nucleus. It is not aligned with any of the principal axes of the elliptical galaxy, but perpendicular to the inner jets. The jet-collimating mechanism, probably tied to this circumnuclear disk, appears to be precessing on timescales of a times 10**7 yerars.