NGC 4945 – GALAXY 

Centaurus

 (ra: 13:05,4/ dec -49:28)

DATA

TYPE: Dusty Hedge on Spiral Galaxy

VISUAL MAGNITUDE: 9

SIZE: 20 arc minutes

DISTANCE: 13 Millions light years

OBJECT DESCRIPTION

NGC 4945 is part of the Centaurus Group along with NGC 5128. Six times further away compared to Andromeda it’s a nearby Galaxy characterized by its high infrared luminosity, which also implies high levels of radiation emitted by its young and massive stars. It nucleus can not be directly observed by the astronomers due the dark dust which is in the hedge one view perspective. The high speed rotation in its core, suppose the existence of a super massive black hole of 1.6 million solar masses.

IMAGE INFORMATION

SCOPE: Orion ED 80 @ 7.5 Meade LXD 75

SKY CONDITIONS: very good.

CAMERA: Starlight Xpress SXV H9

FILTERS: Astronomik Type II

EXPOSURES: Total 10 Minutes LRGB (2.5,2.5,2.5,2.5) subs of 15 seconds each

ACQUISITION: AstroArt v 3. CCD control Interface v. 3.72

GUIDING: Synta 70/400 refractor - SXV Guide Camera

PROCESSED: Images Plus, (no darks, flats nor bias used) Photoshop CS