Fifteen million light years away in the constellation Centaurus lies the nearest radio galaxy, NGC 5128. Also known as Centaurus-A, it is categorized as an intermediate galaxy type, with qualities of both an elliptical (which describes its main body) and spiral galaxy (due to the prominent dust band encircling it). Loads of information about this fascinating galaxy can be found at the solstation website. This galaxy’s beautiful and unusual structure has been made famous through astro photographs, but it is also accessible to astronomical sketchers.
This sketch of NGC 5128 by Eiji Kato, was made at the Twinstar Guesthouse Observatory in Queensland, Australia. He notes: “As for my sketch of NGC 5128, it was made at Ballandean using my new 18″ f/4.5 (Galaxy Optics) mirror at 290x (Naglar 7mm eyepiece). It was drawn on white paper with black graphite, and then inverted after scanning. I am still working on this object for further refinement, but have to wait until next season as it is too low now.”
More of Eiji’s deep sky and comet sketches can be found in his gallery. (Note that a few of the links are broken, but don’t let that discourage you from viewing his excellent work.)
Eiji,
Amazing sketch that captures a lot of subtle details. Very nice.
~WadeVC
Eiji,
My geographic location puts me out of range of this stunning telescopic target. Thanks for sending your beautiful sketch of this southern hemisphere gem. Please consider posting more in the near future.
Frank 🙂