Atacama astrophotography dataset: Unveiling the secrets of Centaurus A

Centaurus A: an impressive nearby galaxy

With a total integration time of about 19 hours, this raw stacked image will reveal the stunning structures of the nearby galaxy Centaurus A, along with its irregular jet and the faint galactic cirrus of the Milky Way.

Centaurus A is the most iconic galaxy of the Southern Hemisphere and this deep field view will surprise you.

Inside this sample pack you will find a small but useful set of files built for astrophotographers who want to test the data, compare their processing, and explore the potential of astrophotography from the darkest sky of the world.

Included in this dataset:

• 1 stacked image file in fits and xisf format at maximum resolution (6248X4176 pixels) taken with a Newtonian 200 mm f5 telescope, ASI 2600MC camera operating at -10°C from Bortle 1 sky. Integration time of 115X600 seconds, with average seeing of 1.4 arcseconds, humidity around 40%, and mean autoguiding error (RMS) of 0.50 arcseconds. Each single frame has been calibrated with master dark frames, master sky flat fields and master bias frame (for the flat frames)
• 1 finished reference image processed following my workflow with PixInsight and Photoshop
• 1 short data sheet with acquisition notes
• 1 quick-start processing note

Usage note

This dataset is provided for personal learning and processing practice only. DO not share the raw image. You may share your processed version for non commercial purpose by providing credit to the owner of the data (Daniele Gasparri).