NGC5128 Centaurus A

[rmuhlack]

This target was a bit of an after-thought, that I started a few days into my Hubble Deep Field South project, as something to fill the time before HDF-S was at a suitable elevation to start imaging.

Skywatcher 200PDS, QHY294C, Sharpstar 0.95x MPCC, Skywatcher NEQ6

Optolong UV-IR 72 x 5min subs
Optolong L-extreme 11 x 10min subs

Captured across 4 July - 11 August from Strathalbyn SA, processed in PixInsight 1.8.9-3

https://www.astrobin.com/krjgza/

[ahmed_haider]

Thats a beaut! Thanks for sharing the astrobin too
I especially love the star colors you've managed to bring out. Well done!

[rmuhlack]

thanks Ahmed :)

[Startrek]

Richard,
Nice image there and just in time as it’s descending in the SW and soon will be gone until next year
Only one observation , core area seems a tad bright and has a circular artefact around the main structure. Otherwise a nice image will large halo and yes star colours are excellent
Well done !!
Martin

[rmuhlack]

Thanks Martin, but not sure what circular "artifact" you're referring to.

Here is Rolf Olsen's definitive 130hr version (which was my reference when processing my own image), which also shows a bright circular region near the core. https://www.astrobin.com/full/ylcuxo/0/

his image of course shows way more detail generally (and in the core, which if anything is brighter than what I have presented), but then he has 20x the integration that I do, and with a mono sensor

[Startrek]

I probably shouldn’t have called it an artifact
Processing techniques , saturation , brightness, integration etc… may expose this circular structure around the core region ?


Here’s my effort this year with my mono set up and last year with my OSC set up
I tend to be light on saturation and brightness
All subjective of course

https://www.astrobin.com/ye73pk/

https://www.astrobin.com/fclofu/

Cheers
Martin

[rmuhlack]

Centaurus A is not just an amorphous blob with a dust lane, there is structure in the blob too. A further stretch of your mono image and a little LocalHistogramEqualization and that circular structure is apparent in yours too, as are the beginnings of structure in the outer shells. (btw the background in your image is very dark, when that whole region has abundant galactic cirrus that Im sure you could readily reveal from your dark site.)

[Startrek]

Thanks
Seems like I’m too light on processing. Should push things a little harder to expose more depth

Cheers
Martin

[gregbradley]

Very nice work there Richard. You are getting some of the shell structure in the halo showing.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

A solid Centaurus A that and yes, well done on revealing some of the structure within the halo, nice work :thumbsup:

Mike

[rmuhlack]

Thanks Greg and Mike. Wish I'd sunk more time into it now, will have to add it to the list for next year.

[Dave882]

What a gorgeous rendition! Wonderful detail in those shells surrounding the galaxy and the star field is magnificent. Great work!!

[petershah]

What a stunning rendition, lovely process. I hope to capture this soon

[Kerman0]

I love Centaurus a, such an interesting target
Capture looking clean as hell :)

[astronobob]

Real Nice looking galaxy shooting Richard,
I did this yrs ago with the 10" and nothing close to this finely resolved and detail result for sure, you definitely have the skills to make most of them hrs hey, much deserved credits..
totally enjoyed looking at that Cent A
Cheers

[rmuhlack]

David/Peter/William/Bob - thanks for the lovely comments and encouragement. I'm fortunate that the semi-rural skies at my location allow me to make the most of these broadband targets :)