Centaurus A Deep Field (NGC 5128) by Michael Sidonio

Poster produced for 2009 "Many Faces of Centaurus A" International conference in Sydney showing the entire 350 000 light-years of her in full-colour visible light.

The image reveals the full outer halo of the perculiar radio galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) in Centaurus including faint polar extensions extending from the top and bottom of the galaxy running diagonally.

Also evident in this image is the extensive but extremely faint Milky Way nebulosity and dust known as "Galactic Cirrus" or "Integrated Flux" that permeates this entire region. Galactic Cirrus material lies just above the plane of our galaxy and is lit by the light of The Milky Way as a whole but due to its extreme faintness at 27mag/sq arcsec, is seldom seen in images, it is visible as faint patches of dusty looking nebulosity all over the image. 

The Cirrus nebulosity around Centaurus A is some of the faintest in the sky and is well below the natural sky brightness. Countless distant background galaxies of all shapes and sizes can be found scattered all over the field of view as well.

Photo details & setup

This unique and extremely deep colour image, compiled from nearly 20hrs of exposure with just a 6" telescope, was taken over 3 nights from very dark skies at "Wiruna" - the remote dark sky site of the Astronomical Society of New South Wales, Australia

Setup:

• AP152 F7.5 Starfire APO refractor with 4" field flattened
• FLI ProLine11002 CCD & CFW-2-7
• LRGB = 15hrs 1.5hr 1.5hr 1.5hr = 19.5hrs total exposure (all bin 1X1) Astronomik filters
• -35C chip temp, darks and flats (AstroHandy LightRing used for flats)
• 12MPPS download speed = 1.5sec/full frame download at bin 1X1
• FOV = 1.6deg X 1.2deg at 1.4"/pix
• Guide Camera: Starlightxpress SXVH9

Multi-Award Winner

• Finalist and recipient of a Highly Commended award in Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards 2009 hosted by The Royal Observatory Greenwich, Sky at Night magazine, and Flickr photo sharing website
• Published in Nov 2009 issue of Astronomy Magazine (US)
• Astronomy 2010 - guide to the night sky
• Front cover of Sky at Night Calendar 2010
  
• 2nd place SPSP 2009 Astro Awards
• 2008 David Malin Awards - Honorable Mention (Amateur Deep Sky)
• Astronomy Magazine Picture of the Day 23 Oct 2008
• Feature article "Spotlight On" in Australian Sky & Telescope, October 2008
• Two excellent articles at "Universe Today" inspired by this image