Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Centaurus (Cen)  ·  Contains:  NGC 5139  ·  Omega Centauri
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NGC 5139  Omega Centauri, Doug Summers
NGC 5139  Omega Centauri
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NGC 5139 Omega Centauri

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
NGC 5139  Omega Centauri, Doug Summers
NGC 5139  Omega Centauri
Powered byPixInsight

NGC 5139 Omega Centauri

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Description

Omega Centauri is the largest known globular cluster in the Milky Way galaxy. It contains some 10 million stars in an area only 150 light years in diameter! At it's core, a 40K solar mass black hole lurks. This intermediate sized black hole, along with the variable ages of the stars in the cluster, suggest that the object is different from "normal" globular clusters, and is likely the core of a dwarf galaxy consumed by our galaxy. The object is 17K light years distant, but easily naked-eye visible in dark skies.

Omega Centauri is quite a stretch for us to image in the northern hemisphere. At my club's dark site in AZ (TAAA CAC site), the maximum elevation angle is only 10 degrees above the horizon! At this angle, multiple nights were required to try and capture the object in the best possible conditions. Seeing and Differential Chromatic Refraction are dramatically pronounced at this low position, with an average airmass of 5.6 during the capture! The latest data represent the best 124 minutes of what seemed like many many hours @ f/2.2. I attempted this object to prove that it could be done, but it definitely poses some challenges.

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NGC 5139  Omega Centauri, Doug Summers