NGC5128 Centaurus A

A luminance filter only image of Centaurus A incorporating 90 minutes of data taken in May 2010. The hope is to add more luminance and color data next year when it is briefly availabe again on my low southern horizon.

NGC5128 (Centaurus A) is located in the direction of the Constellation Centaurus at an approximate distance of 11-13 Million Light-Years. It is a very peculiar galaxy and seems to have an intermediate morphology exhibiting both lenticular (elliptical) and spiral galaxy structures. A supermassive black hole at its center contains over 200 million solar masses of material ejecting relativistic, strong radio source emissions along its polar axes. The present morphology seems to have been the result of an elliptical galaxy ingesting a large spiral galaxy in the last 200-700 million years. The superimposed dust lane across its face exhibits many star forming regions. There are many globular cluster structures in the bright halo, some of which could be the cores of dwarf galaxies absorbed in the past. It is the second strongest radio source to Cygnus A, and has a strong radio wave emitting core only 10 Light-Days across. It is the fifth brightest galaxy in the nighttime sky.

Object: NGC5128 (Centaurus A)
Distance: 11-13 Milliion Light-Years
Magnitude: 7
Date: May 2010
Place: Fort Davis, TX
Exposure Details: Luminance/90 minutes
Processing: MaxIm DL, CCDStack, Photoshop CS3, Focus Magic

Optics: 12.5" RCOS Truss
Focal Length: 2808mm @ f9
Mount: Paramount ME German Equatorial Robotic
Camera: SBIG STL6303E
Focuser: RCOS
Guiding: Off-Axis with SBIG Guide Camera
Filters: Tru-Balance Gen II Luminance