{"release":{"id":"DR1","released_on":"2026-08-21","doi":null,"url":"https://spacecatalog.org/releases#dr1"},"epoch":{"requested":"now","label":"J2026.680","julian_year":2026.68,"time":"2026-09-06T12:22:43.252Z","years_from_j2000":26.68,"frame":"date","applied":"Proper motion, then precession and nutation. The catalogued J2000 position is carried along the great circle the object's own published motion puts it on, at a constant velocity, and the result is referred to the true equator and equinox of this instant. Those are separate things: the motion moves the object, and the rotation turns the grid under it by about fifty arcseconds a year, with nutation adding up to another seventeen.","excluded":"Parallax, the radial-velocity perspective term, aberration and refraction; each is below the accuracy of the catalogued positions themselves. An object with no published proper motion comes back where the catalogue has it rather than at a fabricated zero, and says so with a null pm_ra_mas_yr. A body with no fixed position is not propagated at all — its place comes from an ephemeris, which is what /api/v1/visible answers with."},"slug":"ngc-5128","name":"Centaurus A","class":"lenticular_galaxy_s0","category":"galaxy","object_type":"Lenticular galaxy S0","mag":7.22,"mag_band":"V","abs_mag":null,"abs_mag_band":null,"distance_ly":12000000,"distance_method":"literature value (curated)","ra_deg":201.36508333333333,"dec_deg":-43.01911111111111,"epoch_ra_deg":201.758711,"epoch_dec_deg":-43.159046,"epoch_moved_arcsec":null,"pm_ra_mas_yr":null,"pm_dec_mas_yr":null,"orbits":null,"semi_major_axis_km":null,"periapsis_km":null,"mass_kg":null,"mass_msun":null,"constellation":"Centaurus","discovered":"1826","featured":true,"url":"https://spacecatalog.org/object/ngc-5128","radius_km":null,"radius_kind":null,"data_quality":null,"description":"The nearest galaxy with an active nucleus: an elliptical wearing a thick dust lane from a galaxy it swallowed, and a radio source spanning degrees of sky.","properties":{"b_mag":7.79,"h_mag":4.27,"j_mag":4.98,"k_mag":3.94,"v_mag":7.22,"redshift":0.001826,"hubble_type":"S0","wikidata_id":"Q487255","redshift_cmb":0.002676536145091113,"discovered_by":"James Dunlop","ngc_type_code":"G","uncertainties":{"distance_ly":[14087744.818323405,14087744.818323405]},"major_axis_arcmin":25.88,"minor_axis_arcmin":19.77,"wikipedia_article":"Centaurus A","position_angle_deg":33,"surface_brightness":23.59,"radial_velocity_km_s":547},"designations":[{"catalog":"2MASX","designation":"2MASX J13252775-4301073"},{"catalog":"Caldwell","designation":"C 77"},{"catalog":"Common name","designation":"Centaurus A"},{"catalog":"ESO","designation":"ESO 270-009"},{"catalog":"ESO","designation":"ESO 270-9"},{"catalog":"ESO-LV","designation":"ESO-LV 270-0090"},{"catalog":"IRAS","designation":"IRAS 13225-4245"},{"catalog":"IRAS","designation":"IRAS F13225-4245"},{"catalog":"LEDA","designation":"LEDA 46957"},{"catalog":"MCG","designation":"MCG -07-28-001"},{"catalog":"NGC","designation":"NGC 5128"},{"catalog":"PGC","designation":"PGC 46957"}],"source":{"id":"openngc","name":"OpenNGC","url":"https://github.com/mattiaverga/OpenNGC","license":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"updated_at":"2026-09-02T19:50:56.720Z","attribution":"Data from SpaceCatalog.org. Individual records carry their source and license in `source`; attribution is required for CC-BY and CC-BY-SA rows."}