NGC 5128 Centaurus A Galaxy

[Startrek (Martin)]

After raining most of the day it cleared around 6pm with the evening forecast looking ok
After a 2 hour set up in the backyard , polar aligned by 9.30pm and started my first sub on Centaurus A Galaxy around 10pm
There was so much moisture around after the rain on the ground and in the air so had my 4 Kendrick heater bands on full for the first hour
Seeing was a bit poor early on but by midnight there was a significant improvement
60% waxing moon was setting in the north west
Finished up around 1.30am
8” f5 Bintel GSO newt on an EQ6-R Mount
Canon 600D stock DSLR with home made cooling fan ( no filters ) sensor temp around 25 deg C
ISO 800
40 x 3 minute dithered guided subs
25 x darks
PHD2 guiding around 0.90 to 1.10 arc sec error
Goto and tracking EQMOD, StellariumScope and Stellarium
Frame , focus and capture BYEOS
Stacked in DSS
Processed in Startools V1.4

Thanks for looking , comments welcome

[Ant0nio (Tony)]

That's a decent Cent A Martin, I reckon your data deserves a repro to bring out the star colour a bit more given that lovely colour correct stars seem to be a hallmark of your images .
Just my 2 bobs worth.
Best,
Tony

[Startrek (Martin)]

Tony
Here’s another version processed in Startools V1.5 and using scientific aware colour module for the star field
Star field is a little more interesting
Martin

[Ant0nio (Tony)]

Nicely done Martin

[mynameiscd (Andy)]

Very good Cen A.
Stars are crisp and colour is spot on.
A real keeper

Cheers
Andy

[RyanJones]

Excellent dust lane with lots of detail Martin. Well done. I’d take the first process but that’s just my preference. Either way, great job !

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks Tony ,Andy and Ryan
Yeh pretty happy with the result especially under a 60% moon
Cheers

[etill (Elliot)]

Nice shot, and good detail across the core.

This and M83 are two of my favourite targets, I just don't think my scope is that well suited to galaxies. I would certainly like to have the selection you have to choose from.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Elliot
Thanks for the kind comment
Yes my 8” f5 newt is a great all rounder ( only cost me $455.00 )
With my 600D I can frame most objects in the night sky ( the bigger Nebula like Carina and Running Chicken etc.. I can frame about 60% of the object which is ok )
The rig is also a good for lunar and planetary work
Cheers

[Sunfish (Ray)]

Yep that second one looks pretty sharp and colourful with a lot of dark dust trailing off. Well done.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Thanks Ray
Looks like some promising nights next week without the moon around
Fingers crossed

[ChrisV (Chris)]

That's very nice Martin. Looks like you have set up your newt very well - stars look good. And for 2 hours, very very nice capture and processing

[Startrek (Martin)]

Chris
Thanks for the kind comment
Just waiting for the moon to bugger off early next week so I can image some galaxies under dark skies. My Centaurus A and M83 last week were captured under a 60% and 70% waxing moon which is a struggle to process all that gradient out of the image. You do sacrifice detail in doing so plus end up with fatter stars in the process
This is my second year with the 8” f5 newt and enjoying every hour out there with it. It’s a great all rounder
Haven’t done any lunar imaging this year so might get out late tonight and capture some Luna vistas (90% waning is not ideal but I’ll take what I can get )
Martin