Centaurus A or NGC 5128 is a lenticular galaxy in the constellation Centaur. The celestial object
was discovered on April 29, 1826 by the Scottish astronomer James Dunlop. Centaurus A is located
about 12 million light-years from Earth and has a mass of about 1 trillion solar masses. Rather,
the shape is elliptical, and its dimensions are 300,000 × 450,000 light-years (90 kpc × 140 kpc).
On October 22, 2012, it was announced that the galaxy contains a hidden spiral. This probably
comes from a spiral galaxy that collided with Centaurus A. The galaxy is girded by an unusual band
of cosmic dust. Centaurus A is a strong source of radio waves (it is the closest radio galaxy) and
is part of the M83 group. It is the fifth brightest system in the sky.