NGC 5128 or Centaurus A is one of the closest radio galaxies to Earth at a distance of approximately 12 million light-years. It has a distinctive central dust lane and an active galactic nucleus containing a supermassive black hole creating a relativistic jet which emits in visual, radio and X-ray wavelengths. The inner and outer filaments of the optical jet are visible here as the red streaks between 2 and 3 o'clock. It is an unusual galaxy, possibly the result of a merger between an elliptical galaxy and a smaller spiral galaxy.
Scope: Planewave CDK17 @ f/6.8 = 2939mm FL
Mount: Paramount ME
Camera: SBIG STXL-11002/AOX
Filters: Astrodon LRGB gen II, 3nm NB
Image scale: 0.63 arcsec/pixel
Exposures: 15x1200s R, 15x1200s G, 15x1200s B, 22x1200s L, 11x1800s Ha (27.83 hours)
Processing: PixInsight 1.8.5
Acquisition: Martin Pugh
Processing: Rick Stevenson
