This image is from my recent trip to the VicSouth Star Party in the remote western Victorian outback desert near Nhill.

Fab Bortle 1 sky and a nice clear night. I wanted to go for NGC 1097 and a zillion teeny tiny galaxies in the field, but I was surprised to see this curious dust cloud nearby when framing.

I couldn’t fit it all in without making a two-panel mosaic (maybe next time), so I’ve included a portion of it at the top of my image to balance NGC 1097.
It’s a very interesting cloud, I’m curious if anyone knows more about it as it might make a good target by itself – it’s pretty feint though!

VicSouth is the best star party in Australia for astrophotography!

Galaxy NGC 1097 with dust cloud
Galaxy NGC 1097 with dust cloud

Capture Details

Telescope Takahashi TOA 130 with Flattener 67
Camera Atik APX 60
Mount Ioptron CEM70G
Filters Chroma LRG&B
Guiding Camera ZWO
Integration time (Exposure) 6.25 hrs
Location Nhill, Victoria, Australia
Date Nov, 2024

About this Galaxy Field.

NGC 1097 is a barred spiral galaxy 50 million light-years away in Fornax. It has several interesting features. The galaxy contains a supermassive black hole 140 million times greater than our sun. The black hole is surrounded by a ring replete with new star formation.

The ring is lit by an influx of material moving towards the galaxy’s central bar. The galaxy contains four optical jets (one of which is highly faint) that seem to emanate from the nucleus region. Studies have determined that the jets are not emissions but are made up of stars. There are two satellite galaxies, NGC 1097 A and B. A is a peculiar galaxy that orbits only 42,000 light years from the centre of NGC 1097, while B is a dwarf galaxy discovered by emissions and has not been well studied. (text: Hanson astronomy) 

NGC 1097

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The galaxy contains a supermassive black hole!

- VicSouth: Best star party in Australia