NGC 4945

A large and bright, edge-on spiral galaxy, NGC 4945 in Centaurus, would undoubtably be much better known if it were situated further north. It is bright enough to be visible in binoculars, and in an 8" telescope it appears as a long, featureless patch of light.

Combination of 10, 3 minute exposures, SBIG ST9XE CCD camera.
300mm f/6 newtonian telescope at prime focus.

Combination of 20, 3 minute exposures, unfiltered,
5, 3 minute exposures using red and green filters,
and 6, 3 minute exposures using a blue filter.
SBIG ST8XE CCD camera. 300mm f/6 newtonian telescope at prime focus.

Combination of 20, 3 minute images, unfiltered and 10, 3 minute exposures using red, green and blue filters.
SBIG STL-1001E CCD. 300mm f/6 newtonian telescope at prime focus.

The bright galaxy to the left (east) is the 10.1 magnitude NGC 4976. Just above the lefthand end of NGC 4945 is the 15.3 magnitude galaxy PGC 45317. This would be an interesting challenge for a large telescope.

Combination of 20, 3 minute exposures, SBIG STL-1001E CCD camera.
300mm f/6 newtonian telescope at prime focus.