| Designation |
NGC 5128 Centaurus A
|
| Type | Pecular Galaxy (type SO pec) irregular |
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Coordinates | Telescope centered at RA '13 25 51' - Dec '- 42 54 49' |
| Magnitude | 6.7 |
| Size | 15,000 light years across |
| Distance | 10 million light years |
| Dimensions | 18 x 14 arcminutes |
| Image Field | 15 x 21 arcminutes |
|
Notes:
|
Centaurus A is a member of the M83 group of galaxies. It is a strong source of radio radiation. It is the nearest radio galaxy to our Milky Way. It is a strange blend of eliptical and spiral galaxy, having the strong central dust lane common to spirals. |
| Infrared images have revealed a disk of matter in the central region spiraling into a black hole, which is estimated to have a mass one billion times our sun's. | |
|
|
The odd shape of this galaxy is appearantly attributable to interaction (collision) with another galaxy about 10 billion years ago. |
| Telescopes | Meade 10" LX200 f/10 on Losmandy G-11 with Gemini L3 |
| Focal Length | 1575 mm @ f/6.3 |
| Guiding | SXV guidehead through Takahashi FS60C @ f/5.9 |
| Telescope Control | Maxim DL (V4.07) |
| CCD Camera |
Starlight Xpress SXV-H9 - USB 2 ExView progressive scan
1392
x 1040 (6.45 uM) pixel array (8.98 x 6.71 active area)
|
| Image Scale | .88 arcsec/pixel |
| Filters |
1.25" Astronomik Type II Dichroic IR blocking
filters in Astronomik filter drawer - Clear, Red, Green, Blue
|
| Exposures |
Total
exposure time: 130 minutes: Luminance 70 (14 x 5) unbinned,
RGB - 20 (10x2) minutes each binned 2x2
|
| Calibration | flats, bias |
| Processing Software | Maxim DL, Photoshop CS (8.0), NEAT image (color channel smoothing) |
| Location | Chiefland Astronomy Village, FL - 29.393 N , - 82.863 W |
| Date/Time | 03/12/05 / '06:17' - '08:38' UT |
