finding Centaurus A

[graham.hobart]

Hey people, have managed to find Omega Centaurii and taken some shots but when I try and find Centaurus A ? nada
I use Stellarium initially then Autostar-
one puts me nearby, the other on the Northern horizon.
My star atlas says its pretty near Omega but I haven't got the experience to find the nearby stars then hone in. Any tips?
I was using both a Meade fork mounted 8" SCt and then an equatorial mounted 80mm refractor.
The star atlas implies that it is North by about 5-10 degrees. Am I reading these things wrong? I know from recent experience (coming from the UK I would have never seen Eta C with the naked eye, now on a cloudless night I think I can now pick it out ) that once you spot things they are ingrained in the eye, I now can spot Omega after about a minute of binocular vision then line the scope up). Should I be able to pick it up in 9x 47 bins then align with a bintel 8 x 30 mm finderscope?
Place me in the right direction..thanks
Graham

[ballaratdragons]

I have made a map for you that may help you to Starhop to Centaurus 'A'.

The 1st image shows the location of Centaurus 'A' in comparison with Crux and Omega Centauri.

The 2nd one is a close up to show the easiest stars to see for hopping there :thumbsup:

I hope it helps.

[barx1963]

My method for finding Cent A is as follows. Find Omega Cent by following a line from Hadar through Epsilon Cent. Should be easy to pick it in your finder. Continuing on this same line just over 1 finder field away from Omega, you will see a group of stars clearly in your finder. I see it as 2 groups, the group on the proceeding side making a shallow V shape pointing to following directio and a following group slightly to the South.
Use your lowest power EP to scan area just to North and following this second group and you should pick it up.
While in the area have a crack at NGC 4945 and NGC 5011.

Malcolm

[Darth Wader]

Hi Graham

If you're observing from suburban skies you might not have much luck. I didn't find Centaurus A until I was under a sufficiently dark sky. It is quite faint in an 8"and took me some time to find on my first go.

Cheers
Wade

[mental4astro]

If your sky is good & dark, you should be able to pick out Centaurus A in your 30mm finder, just. I'm not just saying this, I've seen it in a 30mm finder myself.

You'll also be able to make out M104, the Sombrero galaxy, and M83 galaxies in your 30mm finder too. These two can be seen in good binos, like your 47mm, from suburban skies if the light pollution isn't extreme. Again, this is from experience from my home in Sydney.

HOWEVER, this I achieved last year from Sydney's east, and one year down the track, I haven't been able to repeat this things have got so bad, :(. One year! In Hobart, you'll have no problem

[graham.hobart]

Thanks Geezers, all good advice. When Moon glow and clouds finally dissipate will give it a crack

[Ric]

I always remember the classic line by Sir Patrick Moore in his cameo on "The Goodies"

"It's up a bit, left a bit and down a bit" :astron:

Sorry Graham, I couldn't resist that one. :D

[Barrykgerdes]

I could not see it from my home location with a 12"SCT even though I was pointing straight at it. I went to a dark location and had no problem locating and viewing it with an ETX125. So if you have light pollution it may be very difficult to locate let alone see.

Barry

[yusufcam]

took me forever to find it in suburban sydney as well, and when i did it could just be made out in an 8" dob (similar maybe to a faint glob which was split).

took slightly less time to find the sombrero.

the trick in finding them for me, was finding star hopping guides that matched the level of visibility where we were.

i think the sombrero map came from here.

good luck

[cookie8]

Hi Graham
I still remember it took me ages and many frustrations to locate Cen.A in my 8" dob. Its much fainter than I thought under suburban Sydney sky.
Vincent

[WadeH]

Hi Graham,

As others have said I start at Hadar (Beta Centaurus) and star hop to Epsilon Centaurus, then its equal distance straight line hops to Omega centaurus and Cent. A. See the chart attached that I took off Starry Night, south is down and the chart is for current 9:00pm.
I am in a semi rual area with reasonably dark skies and Cent. A is visable in the 9X50 finder scope.
Hope this helps.

[Fox]

Hi Graham, its in an easy patch of the sky but you can't find it because as others have said, its a pretty faint object. Its nowhere as obvious like Omega Cent, plus its quite an extended object so low power is needed. Many years ago, using my 8 inch Meade SCT & my friends 8 inch Newt side by side from suburban skies, Cent A was visible with help using averted vision in the Newt, BUT we couldn't see it at all in the SCT - probably because it was on the "edge of visibility" from our location/seeing conditions plus add in the loss of contrast due to the SCT's larger central obstruction.

Having said that, nowadays, when skies are dark from suburban Camberwell, Melbourne, I can readily pick out Cent A and its dark central bar using my 4 and 5 inch refractors. Unfortunately I no longer have the 8 inch SCT anymore, so I can't compare, but I should also admit that I am a more careful and experienced observer than before. The bottom line is, you need low power and dark skies for the best chance of seeing it. Binoculars, 7 x 50mm, I've found are also a great way to place it.

PS: I'm not trying to criticise the SCT, its fantastic with Omega (and planets) with the right eyepieces and conditions!

[ballaratdragons]

This is why everyone needs to convert to Video Astronomy.
It is easily visible even with Full Moon and heavy light pollution 'Live' via Astro Video cameras :)

:poke: :lol:

[graham.hobart]

My word, I found it, isn't it a beauty. Clouds went for a night down here under down under and I scoped till my eyes bled.
I hope to add some shonky beginner pictures!...
Once again I thank ye.

[ballaratdragons]

Woo-Hoo Graham!
well done :)

They are even pretty good pics :thumbsup:
The first one is a corker!

[graham.hobart]

and yes, i managed to find NGC 4945 after though my pic looks like a galactic doggie doo doo, and then the Sombrero. Man that night was clear!!

[graham.hobart]

Thanks Mr BDragons, my first ever galaxy! I had to go inside and ask my wife to shake my hand. She already thinks I am nuts! It's a great feeling bagging the first one. I took some pics in JPEG and in Raw and in anticipation I also took some darks. So now all I have to do is learn how to put it all together!
It's almost spiritual, the feeling of gazing into another galaxy.

[ballaratdragons]

Yep, you're hooked :thumbsup: :lol:

and it gets better with each new object :)

[Fox]

Graham, congrats & well done! Fox

[Snorbak]

Its a great feeling finding your 1st galaxy & Centaurus A was my 1st (took me about 30 mins of constant swapping from eyeball to eyepeice) back in March. I then went hunting for M104 later in the evening/ morning but it took a "little" bit longer but persistance paid off.
I have since found another half dozen or so & the thrill is the same for each one.
Quite often the objects are barely visable, however its the understanding & appreciation of just what it is you are looking at.
I took my scope down to a mates place several weeks ago & he spent the 1st 30 minutes just looking at Saturn. When he finally agreed to let me point the scope at the list of usual suspects, Orion Neb, Eta Carine, Omega Cen etc, he was gob smacked. Same reaction as me & now he's hooked.

[graham.hobart]

must explain why I am out here at 5'c with almost 60% cloud cover trying to find it again!
The clear sky beckons yet teases, oh fickle sky! won't you leave me be?
Gotta go, clouds have shifted.......
Graham

[barx1963]

Hey Graham. Well done, and really pleased you nabbed NGC 4945. Now the thing to do is have a look at Cent A everytime you go out. Eventually more details comes out and one night you will get great conditions and you will see filaments and a huge halo and just be blown away!

Malcolm

[overlord]

could be cos of the long focus and u got some massive eyepiece with lots of glass?

I wanted to know what u guys were talking about so i got out the 8" and went to the right location and yeah there is a white smudge. I saw it in the melbourne subs so it's visible. but like yeah....

u need a very wide angle. i use a RINI eyepiece 30mm with no coatings 33x mag, it's very good for finding small globs and smudges.

[BrisGreg]

I got it with my 10" and a 20mm last week 30kms north of Brissie:eyepop:

I do enjoy the chase though (trying to find the fuzzies that is). I tell everybody it's a bit like the game of "Where's Wally";)