Centaurus A Extreme Deep Field - 120 Hours

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Well my friend, I knew the day would come for me to hand over the Centaurus A mantle, I knew some day someone would take the bull by the horns and surpass my effort from May 2008 at Wiruna, and pow you have certainly done that .... frankly I am surprised it took so long...aaaalthough in my last vestiges of relevance before being relegated to mediocrity...my field is wider so does show the "full" outer polar extentions of the galaxy

I have had a good look at all your presentations of the data and this is a spectacular result Rolf (not to mention out right interesting) and something to be very proud of

Something I related to was the pleasure you mention when working with that volume of data, I remember with my 20hrs taken from a true dark sky it was indeed easy to play with and gradient and noise reduction were almost non existent...as for having 120hrs at your fingertips...I can only imagine...

120hrs..... The Germans invented this didn't they blitzkrieg ? and 43 nights .....I'll just go and rock back and forth in the corner dribbling now...

Mike

[sjastro]

Congratulations on a fine image Rolf.

Steven

[E_ri_k (Erik)]

Speechless That is absolutely superb
Well done, that's a HUGE effort, and the results speak for themselves.
Erik

[Paul Haese]

Well done Rolf. Detailed and very smooth image. Great colour and contrast. Shells are well shown and I believe show detail never shown in an image by an amateur. Certainly the deepest image of Centaurus A image I have ever seen.

The jet off the lower right is impressive to say the least. I also am impressed by the ha regions showing up so well.

Very nice image. Spectacular.

[h0ughy (David)]

wow - very impressive. I don't have the processing skills to comprehend this monumental achievement but it certainly is a tenacious Herculean effort. Boldly fantastic!!!

[Enrique]

:ey epop:

[icytailmark (Mark)]

this would of taken months to process on a half decent computer.

[astroron (Ron)]

Fantastic work and a stunning image.
Your skill knows no bounds Rolf
Cheers

[Shiraz (Ray)]

simply outstanding work Rolf - thanks for posting it so we could see what this object looks like.

[RobF (Rob)]

Just amazing Rolf. Tops even YOUR wildest efforts to date.
Bit biblical actually - 40 nights of data, and perhaps 40 days to process it so wonderfully?

BTW - if anyone starts criticising new images on IIS because they've got less than 100hrs, its all your fault.....

[dvj (John)]

I for one appreciate the excellent capture of the jet deatail compared to the ESO data.

[iceman (Mike)]

That's quite amazing. Blown away I am!

Wow Rolf, you've outdone yourself. Incredible effort - you're a credit to amateur astrophotographers everywhere.

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Massive! Such dedication and commitment. Most of us impatiently wrestle with maybe a few hours of data on one target. 43 nights on one target! Your mount must almost know the way by itself after that!

[Peter.M]

I am frantically trying to find a hat around my house so that I can take it off to you Rolf.

Fantastic

[multiweb (Marc)]

Just saw that one now. Gee that woke me up in a big way . Don't need a coffee anymore.

Wowwowow!... where do I start. Mind-blowing shot. It's got everything in one rendition. You've managed the colors and the whole dynamic range in a subtle way. As usual the read in so interesting like all your other reports. 120h is a mammoth efforts and the result is fantastic. Also loved all the smaller shots and comparisons to the ESO pics.

I'll echo what everybody else said. You're a credit to the hobby mate.

[Lester]

Outstanding image Rolf, thanks for the view. It poses the question; as to what is the limit of how deep we can go with images. I thought the atmosphere of our planet would cause a limiting factor? All the best and look forward to seeing more of your work.

[jase (Jason)]

A splendid image Rolf! I admire your dedication in sticking to the plan and the write up on your approach is just as good as the image providing even further insight into your methodology. Its not easy to put a familiar target in a different light, but you've done it with exquisite results.

I do however wonder...90hrs of luminance? Really? Is that how much you acquired and used or did you acquire far more than that and throw away the subs that didn't meet FWHM requirements? I suspect the signal to noise ceiling was well below this, perhaps offering diminishing returns beyond 50hrs. Did you measure this? What however such a large volume of data provides is greater choice. Choice to include only the exceptionally low FWHM subs.

Thoroughly enjoyed the jet and along with the shell extensions as it fades naturally into the galactic cirrus. A minor technicality in the name. This is not Centaurus A, but NGC 5128. Centaurus A is the radio source within NGC 5128, but a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. ...and talking names, 'Aotearoa' or the land of the long white cloud has become a myth. Clearly you do get endless nights of good astronomical weather! Probably rival many places in Oz.

Once again, excellent work. If you produce a solid image each quarter, you should be happy. In this game, its quality over quantity. Well done!

[Ric]

Hi Rolf

That is really something special, great images and a great write-up as well.

Thank you for posting an amazing image.

[Dennis]

Hello, Rolf

Well, you’ve really smashed this one right out of the park…

No doubt you got bored with Milky Way globulars, so you’ve spread your wings and flown beyond our galaxy to pick up just a few hundred or so elsewhere, in the vast reaches of our cosmos.

A most wonderful and inspirational piece of work Rolf, it really lifts the “what’s possible” genre to a whole new level and injects amateur astronomy with inspiration for new horizons.

Cheers

Dennis

[scagman (John)]

As everyone else has said. WOW, very very good. Just awesome.

cheers