ROSAT HRI Observations of Centaurus A

We present results from a sensitive high-resolution X-ray observation of the nearby active galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) with the ROSAT high-resolution imager (HRI). The 65 ks X-ray image clearly distinguishes different components of the X-ray emission from Cen A: the nucleus and the jet, the diffuse galaxy halo, and a number of individual sources associated with the galaxy. The luminosity of the nucleus increased by a factor of 2 compared to an earlier ROSAT observation in 1990. The high spatial resolution of the ROSAT HRI shows that most of the knots in the jet are extended both along and perpendicular to the jet axis. We report the detection of a new X-ray feature, at the opposite side of the X-ray jet, which is probably due to compression of hot interstellar gas by the expanding southwestern inner radio lobe.