Uncovering the kiloparsec-scale stellar ring of NGC5128
  We reveal the stellar light emerging from the kiloparsec-scale, ring-like
structure of the NGC5128 (Centaurus A) galaxy in unprecedented detail. We use
arcsecond-scale resolution near infrared images to create a "dust-free" view of
the central region of the galaxy, which we then use to quantify the shape of
the revealed structure. At the resolution of the data, the structure contains
several hundreds of discreet, point-like or slightly elongated sources. Typical
extinction corrected surface brightness of the structure is K_S = 16.5
mag/arcsec^2, and we estimate the total near infrared luminosity of the
structure to be M = -21 mag. We use diffraction limited (FWHM resolution of ~
0.1", or 1.6 pc) near infrared data taken with the NACO instrument on VLT to
show that the structure decomposes into thousands of separate, mostly
point-like sources. According to the tentative photometry, the most luminous
sources have M_K = -12 mag, naming them red supergiants or relatively low-mass
star clusters. We also discuss the large-scale geometry implied by the
reddening signatures of dust in our near infrared images.
