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R.P. Kraft, W. Forman, C. Jones, A.T. Kenter, S.S. Murray, M.S. Elvis, I.N. Evans, G. Fabbiano, T. Isobe, M. Karovska, D.-W. Kim, A.H. Prestwich, F.A. Primini, D.A. Schwartz (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), E.J. Schreier (STScI)
We present preliminary results from an observation of the nearby radio galaxy Centaurus A with the High Resolution Camera (HRC) on the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We also outline data analysis procedures which will become part of the standard processing of all HRC data. This object was observed for a total of 27.7 ksec as part of the Orbital Activation and Calibration phase. We can clearly resolve all components of X-ray emission seen by previous X-ray observatories including the bright nucleus, the inner jet, galactic diffuse emission, and individual point sources to a luminosity of ~{\rm 2\times 1037} ergs/sec. The superior spatial resolution of the CXO has allowed us to obtain several interesting results. We have examined the nucleus to determine whether it is consistent with a point source at the ~0.5 arcsec resolution of the telescope and detector. We have also mapped out the emission from the X-ray jet, which consists of several bright knots, all of which are clearly diffuse, surrounded by diffuse emission along much of it's length. Finally, we have detected ~50 sources in the vicinity of Cen A and find that several of them are co-incident with globular clusters.