Pictor A
| Pictor A | |
|---|---|
Image from Chandra X-ray Observatory showing a jet of plasma emanating from Pictor A | |
| Observation data (J2000 epoch) | |
| Constellation | Pictor |
| Right ascension | 05h 19m 49.721s |
| Declination | −45° 46′ 43.85″ |
| Redshift | 0.03498±0.00005 |
| Heliocentric radial velocity | 10,495±42 km/s |
| Galactocentric velocity | 10,308±43 km/s |
| Distance | 506.2 ± 35.55 Mly (155.2 ± 10.9 Mpc)h−1 0.6774 (Comoving) 495 Mly (151.8 Mpc)h−1 0.6774 (Light-travel) |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 15.77 |
| Apparent magnitude (B) | 16.64 |
| Absolute magnitude (V) | 19.2 |
| Characteristics | |
| Type | S00 |
| Size | 319,760 ly × 271,790 ly (98.04 kpc × 83.33 kpc) (diameter; 2MASS K-band total isophote) 95,690 ly × 66,990 ly (29.34 kpc × 20.54 kpc) (diameter; "total" magnitude) |
| Apparent size (V) | 0.49′ × 0.34′ |
| Other designations | |
| Pic A, PKS 0518-45, 2CXO J051949.7-454643 | |
Pictor A is a double-lobed broad-line radio galaxy around 155.2 megaparsecs (506 million light-years) away in the constellation Pictor, and a powerful source of radio waves in the Southern Celestial Hemisphere. From a supermassive black hole at its centre, a relativistic jet shoots out to an X-ray hot spot 300,000 light-years away.