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Centaurus A

Radio Galaxy in Centaurus

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Description

Centaurus A is a radio galaxy located some 10-16 million light years away from the Earth. The light you see in this image is the aggregation of some 100 billion stars that began their journey long before the first humans even walked the Earth. At it's heart lies a supermassive black hole 55 million times the mass of the Sun, and is responsible for generating violent polar jets visible only in radio and X-ray wavelengths. The structure of Centaurus A is also rather peculiar, containing a highly prominent and disturbed dust lane that spans its equator. This odd structure came about due to a collision of two galaxies during its history. 

Imaging Details

Location: Bintan Island, Indonesia 
Date(s): May 2025
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ85EDX with 1.01x flattener

Camera: ZWO ASI6200MM 
Mount: ZWO AM5 Harmonic Drive Mount
Total Integration (LRGB): 2 hours

Image reduction, integration and processing with Pleiades Astrophoto PixInsight.

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