| Designation |
NGC 5139
|
| Type | Globular Cluster - Class VIII |
| Constellation | Centaurus (The Centaur) |
| Coordinates | Telescope centered at RA '13 27 37'- Dec '- 47 25 14' |
| Magnitude | 3.5 |
| Size | 300 light years in diameter |
| Distance | 15,000 light years |
| Dimensions | 36 x 36 arcminutes |
| Image Field | 22 x 16 arcminutes |
|
Notes:
|
Omega Centauri is the brightest and largest of all the globular clusters. It has been cataloged since the mid 2nd century when Ptolemy, the Greek astronomer, logged it. It has an absolute magnitude of -10.3, which equates to a luminosity of 1.1 million suns. |
| It probably contains about 1 million plus stars. Even though the core looks like the stars are overlapping, the closest distance between stars at the core is estimated to be about .1 light year, which is very dense as far as star populations go. 1/10 of a light year is 6,324 times the distance between earth and our sun. | |
|
|
| 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: 78 minutes: Luminance 24 (12 x 2), R,G,B
- 18 (9x2) minutes, all unbinned, Sigma combined
|
| Calibration | none |
| Processing Software | Maxim DL, Photoshop CS (8.0) |
| Location | Chiefland Astronomy Village, FL - 29.393 N , - 82.863 W |
| Date/Time | 04/10/05 - 05:09 - 06:41 UT |
