The Mighty Centaurus A

[strongmanmike]

Well who would'a thunk it :shrug: ....mad Mike Sidonio imaging Centaurus A again :question: :eyepop: :lol:...oh well, I wanted something bright and I hadn't imaged her since my infamous 3 day effort over 7 years ago now and not with the current scope or camera :)

So here we go....

I will say that having 12" now and at F3.8 proved to deliver a bit more resolution and particularly got depth much faster than the 6" Starfire did, so that was a good thing to confirm :) While my last effort on Cen A was some 20hrs under perfect dark skies, this quicky is just 5.5hrs from moderately dark skies and I have processed it quite differently as I wasn't trying to bring out any galactic cirrus this time due to the smaller field. Seeing wasn't the best I have had at Wallaroo but still quite good for the Lum but unfortunately it was poor for the colour and very poor for the blue, so I had to work hard on the stars to get them to something I was relatively happy with...

Anyhooo, got my 7 year 5128 itch sorted...here she is :scared3:

Centaurus A (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/160179333/original) (trimmed for symetry)

Close up of the violent looking Dust Lane (http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike2002/image/160192708/original)

Mike

[astroboof]

That's very nice. :)

[dvj]

A fine piece of work Mike. I never get tired of looking at this galaxy.

j

[Rex]

Beautiful Mike. That rig of yours cranks it out, great depth for 5.5 hrs.

[Placidus]

Superb!

The inner part of the collimated jet is very clear, and I think we can see strong hints of the outer part. The dust lanes and the little "superman" badge are clear. The two bands of intense star formation either side the dust lane show lots of detail too. All that in 5.5hrs is really flying.

What happens if you register and combine this image with your StarFire version?

Great stuff.
MBJ

[Fabiomax]

It seems to be insidie the galaxy, beatiful details !
Cheers,
Fabiomax

[TR]

Looking great Mike.

[gregbradley]

Looking good Mike. You can see the seeing fluffed out the stars a bit but not important to the image.

The 694 is a good match at 12/3.8. Lots of details. I am thinking an AO unit may take it a step further.

Greg.

[SpaceNoob]

Great image Mike. I've noticed quite a bit of poor blue signal of late out this way. A fair amount of fog / smoke has been around, not sure if that would play any part for where you are?

[strongmanmike]

Thanks for checking it out guys, hopefully it didn't stir up too many bad memories for the long term IIS'ers :lol:

Cheers John, always chuffed when something of mine catches your eye :prey2: :thumbsup:

Mike BJ, not sure but perhaps, although I already did that with Rolf mega data Olsen and I won't be able to top that effort :)

Greg, if the guiding is good I'm not sure the SXAO will make much difference really and that was from Terry Platt's mouth...but I too keep thinking it may be worth a try...?

Chris, re the bloated blue channel, it was like processing HaRGB, the Lum stars were much smaller than the blue ones :sadeyes: so had to do some funky blending to disguise them...still not 100% happy...but might sit on it... for another 7 years :lol:

Mike

[John K]

Superb Mike - amazing detail - almost too bright for my computer screen!

[strongmanmike]

Great to hear John, I like to blind people...it's just usually with my saturated colours (particularly magenta) :P

Mike

[gregbradley]

Greg, if the guiding is good I'm not sure the SXAO will make much difference really and that was from Terry Platt's mouth...but I too keep thinking it may be worth a try...?

Mike[/QUOTE]

I have one and will be fitting it in the near future so I guess we'll find out.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Excellent, very interested to see how effective, or not, it is :thumbsup:

Mike

[kosh]

Seems to pop out at me, almost 3D ish.

Lovely work Mike.

Goran.

[RickS]

Fantastic image, Mike, made even more stunning by the short integration time!

[RobF]

What a great image Mike. So glad you've shared with us.

BUT - nobody else seems to have suggested, so I can't resist - have you considered doing a teensie weensie Sidonio repro on this data yet? :fishing: :confuse3:

[strongmanmike]

I was trying to make it bright but detailed but natural looking...:question:..well that was the intention Goran :thumbsup:



Cheers Rick, glad you think so mate :thumbsup:



You're welcome



...careful what you wish for Rob :D :rofl:

Cheers though :)...and I just updated the close up on the dust lane :whistle: (so iiiit's staaaarted)

Mike

[Rod771]

Looks pretty good, Mike! :thumbsup:

Always fun to go over previous targets with new gear. Now, you've got 7 years to buy another rig. :D

[Retrograde]

Amazing!

[strongmanmike]

Thanks guys...and I like yer thinking Rod :thumbsup:

Mike

[SimmoW]

ouch, my eyes! it's so sharp and 3D, I cut 'em. Great one Mike

[Eden]

Another splendid image from you, Mike. Excellent colour and nice core details! :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Well, cutting someones eyes huh?...sorry :D



Thnaks a lot..?..Adam?..:question:

Mike

[astronobob]

Thats some awesome resolution Mike, specially for the F/L ..
Grouse to look at indeed :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Leonardo70]

Wonderful Mike ... great color !!!

All the best,
Leo

[LewisM]

Beautiful Mike....but...it needs the jets (http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/large-hubble-survey-confirms-link-between-mergers-and-supermassive-black-holes-with)

OK, enuf naff teasing.

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Bob, yes 0.83"/pix, some reasonable seeing and good guiding and voila! :D



Grazie Leo, the colour was just for you :love:



Wadda ya meeean??, there are jets in there....now you want more jets, MORE jets, sheesh everyone want's jets :rolleyes:

:lol:

[SkyViking]

A super image Mike, and some great detail even with the relatively short integration time.
The blue giant stars really stand out on either side of the dust lane and the inner part of the jet is already prominent, nice!
And no, Centaurus A never gets boring - it is such a fantastic galaxy. :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Yep, so between us we have now spent 145.5 hrs on it :lol:

Can't wait for 2022 for my next crack...when will you do it again? :P

Ahhh Cen A...:sadeyes:...miss you already....

Mike

[SkyViking]

And what's 145.5 hours these days...
- actually, that is less than what I've gathered so far for my next mega-adventure (seriously!) :D :help::help: :eyepop:

[strongmanmike]

:scared:.....of course you have:rofl:.....:question:..... :scared2:

Perhaps it is a disease....or addiction :shrug: :lol:

[Atmos]

Looks like i have something to strive for in the future! Fantastic image of Centaurus A, very jealous.

[multiweb]

Very nice wide field. Great image scale. :thumbsup:

[Ross G]

A great looking Centaurus A closeup Mike.

Very sharp and so much detail.

I love the smooth tones.

Ross.

[strongmanmike]

Well, Centaurus A is a great object to develope your skills on, keeping the brightness range in balance and getting the halo the right colour and looking natural is not as easy as it might seem :)



Not sure it is very wide field :question: but cheers Marc



Thanks Ross :)

Mike

[cometcatcher]

I can see lots of itty bitty galaxies in the background. The foreground object is nice too. ;)

[strongmanmike]

Cheers Kevin, yeah there are quite a few in there huh? Thanks for taking the time to surf the image :thumbsup:

Mike

[andyc]

Great image Mike, another spectacular one from the (K)Nights of Sidonio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_sBOsh-vyI) :D (I have to thank my wife for the reference, she thought of Muse when she heard your name, one of my favourite tracks too).

Though I wonder if it might be a while before you'll be processing Cen A again, you must almost be sick of the sight of it!

Rolf, how many hours? ... you may need professional help :lol:

[strongmanmike]

Cool (and funny) video clip that Andy :)

Well, I figured 7 years was enough time away from my baby, I was sure she was missing me :P

Yes, Rolf has an addiction :lol:...his results are always mighty fine though :thumbsup:

Mike

[marco]

Great one Mike, but what else to expect from you? And 14.5 hours are not that long.. think of the age of the Universe as example..
:whistle::D
'nite
Marco

[strongmanmike]

I think it was a typo by you but just in case..that was 145.5 hrs ie over 6 full days worth of exposure :D

Wonder what exposure length Rolfs next deep image will be, it is more than 145.5hrs, I know that much :)

Mike

[marco]

:scared3: I got it all wrong, the image is 5 hours and half, the other 145+ hours, I somewhat ended in between in my clumsy brain :screwy:
Great shot never the less :D
Ciao
Marco

[Shiraz]

very fine hi res image of the dust - and the rest is very nice as well. Your colour treatment brings out much of the finer detail

[strongmanmike]

Thanks Ray, I really only took this image just to annoy Jase :P...The Lagoon will be next :lol: (sorry Marc :innocent:)

Mike

[TimberLand]

I think you can say you really knocked 5128 out of the park this time. WOW.

253 is my personal yard stick and I regularly go back to it and try for "some" improvement. But I never get a jump like this.

[strongmanmike]

Thanks for looking Justin. I don't consider it better as such than my 2008 effort just different, different field and different processing to show different features and structures...differently :P :)

Mike