Centaurus A Ultra Deep Field

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Here is a unique and very deep view of this famous galaxy in Centaurus.

Taken over 3 nights from a very dark sky this may even be the deepest colour image ever taken of this famous galaxy..?

The following link is to a 1400 X 900 image that will fit on most screens without the need for scrolling but please access a larger file and several other versions of this extensive data set via the links below the image (don't click on the image)

I strongly recomend looking at the 4008 X 2670pix 4.5meg version and see how many galaxies you can count in the background.

The close up of the dust lane is pretty cool too I recon.

A real pleasure to process into so many variations, I hope you like it

http://www.pbase.com/strongmanmike20...61387/original

Mike

[jase (Jason)]

YEAH! Top shelf to the core there Mike. Love the full size version. Background galaxies are plentiful and the halo extension is impressive. Natural and elegant image processing. A question though, what did you do about background colour noise reduction...I think you could have been harder in this processing task. Don't get me wrong, there isn't much background colour noise about, but I noticed it in the fainter edge regions of the halo. Well done. CWAS?

[Peter Ward]

Yes, technically commendable, but aesthetically...hummm...I went there with my own data, and decided not to run with it...that said...looks nicely done with the starfire!

[AlexN]

That 4mb image is INCREDIBLE! Very interesting looking background galaxy in the top right, and Centaurus A Is stunningly bright and vivid..

Job well done.

[iceman (Mike)]

Wow Mike, that's a stunning result. Well done. The trip to Ilford was worth it!

[Lester]

Eye catching deep image, fantastic Mike.

[Hagar (Doug)]

Lovely detailed image Mike. I dont think I will spend the rest of the day counting the galaxies in the background. The dust lane is beutifully in focus and quite stunning in it's soft detail.. ( Idon't mean soft I really mean delicate). I guess this would have been a dificult one to process. Can you give us some idea of your processing routine for a large set of frames like this?

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by jase

YEAH! Top shelf to the core there Mike. Love the full size version. Background galaxies are plentiful and the halo extension is impressive. Natural and elegant image processing. A question though, what did you do about background colour noise reduction...I think you could have been harder in this processing task. Don't get me wrong, there isn't much background colour noise about, but I noticed it in the fainter edge regions of the halo. Well done. CWAS?

Ah, there's that Eagle eye of yours again what would we mere imperfect mortals do without you Jase?

A: I didn't do anything about the background noise, that's the raw simple (ie non Jase like) processing result - I had excellent data from an excellent site with an excellent camera, pretty simple....aaaand it doesn't show in a big glossy 20" X 16" print either

Glad you liked it even with that aweful colour din

Mike

[h0ughy (David)]

Well done Mr Sidonio, can almost hear the corks popping on this one!!

[jase (Jason)]

Originally Posted by strongmanmike

Ah, there's that Eagle eye of yours again what would we mere imperfect mortals do without you Jase?

A: I didn't do anything about the background noise, that's the raw simple (ie non Jase like) processing result - I had excellent data from an excellent site with an excellent camera, pretty simple....aaaand it doesn't show in a big glossy 20" X 16" print either

Glad you liked it even with that aweful colour din

Mike

Eagle eyes Nope just a quality calibrated monitor set up in room with low ambient light, but it helps to know what to look for. Seriously though, I scrutinise your images just as I do my own. Perfection does not exist, yet we still strive for it. You've got to have goals. While I hear you loud and clear - "excellent data from an excellent site with an excellent camera", you're still fooling yourself if you don't think you need noise control mechanisms in place.

Double the amount of data you've acquired and you'll still need to manage it. The reason being is what you are dealing with is not directly noise related to the quality of the data, but the image processing routine itself. Certain tasks are best performed at different times to minimise introducing noise into the image. A classic example is a bad deconvolution PSF model. If the selected star less than ideal, it will wreck havoc on the image. You may not notice the result immediately, which is to be expected - When you run deconvolution you're analysing how the stars have tightened up and other details such as nebulosity are taking form. These are the positives, but you've also got to evaluate the negatives such as noise or the loss of nebulosity due to the deconvolution process. Hence my tip would be to blink your raw and deconvoluted images while examining them thoroughly. This will give you a clear indication of the positives and negatives. Typically the negatives can be dealt with.

It comes as no surprise that the image looks great on print. Printers are much less discerning compared to a monitor - we are only talking about 300dpi and considerable gamut differences here. Be prepared to pay big bucks for your prints if you want the "goods".

Don't get me wrong Mike, this is a "Grade A" image and certainly shows the equipment capabilities along with the operators skill. It is nothing short of excellent work. Sometimes we get overly caught up in processing that we overlook the basics. Once again, well done.

[Bassnut (Fred)]

Very nice Mike, lots of sharp detail there even zoomed in, and sure is deep

[Tamtarn]

That is really deep Mike. Great detail and very subtly processed.

[Ric]

Fantastic Mike, A real stunner.

Cheers

[skeltz (Rob)]

Well thats a real rip snorter mike,kudos.
Well worth the effort and many cups of coffee i Imagen

[Alchemy (Clive)]

Another big effort there mike, will have to spend some time looking through the images. good to see you out of the city and enjoying yourself.


As for the Jase he will post another image soon and it will be your turn

[seeker372011 (Narayan)]

fantastic image..its certainly worth having a look at the 4 meg download ..it certainly is aunique view of a familiar object

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by jase

Eagle eyes Nope just a quality calibrated monitor set up in room with low ambient light, but it helps to know what to look for. Seriously though, I scrutinise your images just as I do my own. Perfection does not exist, yet we still strive for it. You've got to have goals. While I hear you loud and clear - "excellent data from an excellent site with an excellent camera", you're still fooling yourself if you don't think you need noise control mechanisms in place.

Double the amount of data you've acquired and you'll still need to manage it. The reason being is what you are dealing with is not directly noise related to the quality of the data, but the image processing routine itself. Certain tasks are best performed at different times to minimise introducing noise into the image. A classic example is a bad deconvolution PSF model. If the selected star less than ideal, it will wreck havoc on the image. You may not notice the result immediately, which is to be expected - When you run deconvolution you're analysing how the stars have tightened up and other details such as nebulosity are taking form. These are the positives, but you've also got to evaluate the negatives such as noise or the loss of nebulosity due to the deconvolution process. Hence my tip would be to blink your raw and deconvoluted images while examining them thoroughly. This will give you a clear indication of the positives and negatives. Typically the negatives can be dealt with.

It comes as no surprise that the image looks great on print. Printers are much less discerning compared to a monitor - we are only talking about 300dpi and considerable gamut differences here. Be prepared to pay big bucks for your prints if you want the "goods".

Don't get me wrong Mike, this is a "Grade A" image and certainly shows the equipment capabilities along with the operators skill. It is nothing short of excellent work. Sometimes we get overly caught up in processing that we overlook the basics. Once again, well done.

I like simple real cooking, each to their own as they say, thanks for the advice though...daddy

Mike

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Phew, I just extracted myself out of the deep field 4 meg image after counting up all the cool little dotted and curved groups of stars and got so far into it, I almost fell in.

My conclusion?

Holy Cow!

Chris.

[strongmanmike (Michael)]

Originally Posted by AlexN

That 4mb image is INCREDIBLE! Very interesting looking background galaxy in the top right, and Centaurus A Is stunningly bright and vivid..

Job well done.

Glad you enjoyed it and yes it came out pretty bright in the end, as I watched it acumulate over the 3 days at Wiruna I got more and more excited

Originally Posted by iceman

Wow Mike, that's a stunning result. Well done. The trip to Ilford was worth it!

Sure was Mike, never done anything like that before - a 3 day trip to image one object

Originally Posted by Lester

Eye catching deep image, fantastic Mike.

Cheers Lester

Originally Posted by Hagar

Lovely detailed image Mike. I dont think I will spend the rest of the day counting the galaxies in the background. The dust lane is beutifully in focus and quite stunning in it's soft detail.. ( Idon't mean soft I really mean delicate). I guess this would have been a dificult one to process. Can you give us some idea of your processing routine for a large set of frames like this?

Cheers heaps Doug! My processing rotine is a very basic but in a nut shell, I align and combine, then DDP and log stretch and finally LRGB combine in Astroart4, then I pull it into photoshop and play with levels, curves and sharpening...a no brainer really ..ok a little more is involved like layering and blending (much of which is processing on the run by gut feeling) but that's about it

Originally Posted by h0ughy

Well done Mr Sidonio, can almost hear the corks popping on this one!!

dunno about that Dave but I think that means you enjoyed the image..?

Originally Posted by Bassnut

Very nice Mike, lots of sharp detail there even zoomed in, and sure is deep

Cheers Fred, I thought these two latest images would gain me browny points from you, given they are such long exposures . Sorry they are still too wide field for ya though

Originally Posted by Tamtarn

That is really deep Mike. Great detail and very subtly processed.

Cheers Dave and Barb (which of you is writing this?) and I guess that was what I was hoping for, I went into this with an open slate as to what I would get, the result was more than pleasing.

Originally Posted by Ric

Fantastic Mike, A real stunner.

Cheers

Glad you think so Ric!

Originally Posted by rpsastronomy

Well thats a real rip snorter mike,kudos.
Well worth the effort and many cups of coffee i Imagen

Yes lots of coffee Rob! Generally I would start a 60min imaging run then pop off to the camp kitchen at Wiruna and enjoy the fire, coffee, wine and a chat until the lame woosy people left and then it were only me each time I came back for more .....The whole three days went without a hitch, everything went perfectly, weather, equipment and the location not to mention the people

Originally Posted by Alchemy

Another big effort there mike, will have to spend some time looking through the images. good to see you out of the city and enjoying yourself.

I have really enjoyed looking athese very different presentations myself, I've spent a while scanning the big file and the amount of background galaxies and subtle details to find in the galaxy halo are mind blowing. You can even make out the optical component of the black hole jet!


As for the Jase he will post another image soon and it will be your turn

I have really enjoyed looking at the various versions myself actually! I've spent hours scanning the images particularly the big "Deep Field" file and the amount of background galaxies is staggering . You can even make out the optical component of the blackhole jet and many globular clusters in the halo.

As for Jase...? Ahh he means well, just doesn't realise he can sound a bit huberistic, pedantic and patronising at times but I forgive him

Originally Posted by seeker372011

fantastic image..its certainly worth having a look at the 4 meg download ..it certainly is aunique view of a familiar object

Cheers Narayan, I wanted to present Cen A in a way (ways) never before seen

Originally Posted by Screwdriverone

Phew, I just extracted myself out of the deep field 4 meg image after counting up all the cool little dotted and curved groups of stars and got so far into it, I almost fell in.

My conclusion?

Holy Cow!

Chris.

Yes indeed Chris, the background galaxies (and globular clusters in the halo) are pretty incredible huh?

Thanks

[tornado33]

Ive never ever seen such a deep image of this region. Many moons ago I read the Malin book "colours of the stars" where he showed a deep monochrome negative of it. But it wasnt so deep to show the galactic cirrus. This might well be the deepest ever image of the NGC 5128 area. Indeed the lobes from the black hole jet are easily seen. If it is possible to measure the surface brightness of the faint cirrus, or the lobes, I wonder what it would be? very very faint no doubt.

If youre looking to go this deep again, try the Chamelion Nebula complex, theres lots of integrated flux nebulae, dark and reflection nebula to be caught.

I think your imagery here is among the deepest ever seen. Some questions if I may
how did you power your scope? do they have 240V there?
Did you do 10 minute subs, or longer under the darker sky?
Thanks so much for sharing this amazing imagery
Scott