Author: Jeremy Perez

Across the Largest Lunar Lava Plain

Mare Imbrium

Mare Imbrium
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Ray debris from crater Copernicus can be seen cast across this distant region of Mare Imbrium.
The first crater visible to the southeast (upper left) is 20 kilometer Pytheas. Like many of the craters in this part of the lava covered floor, it is from the Eratosthenian period and unlike the younger Copernican period craters does not display fresh crater rays. Northward the largest crater in this sketch is Lambert (30 km.). The inner wall terraces as well as the central craterlet were visible but the buried ghost crater Lambert R was not seen to the south with the higher sun angle here. To the west of Lambert the pair of bright spots is mons La Hire a solitary lunar mountain and remnant of the lunar highlands not covered over by lava. North of mons La Hire and projecting straight to the northwest is Dorsum Zirkel a wrinkled ridge of 200 kilometers length. Another shorter ridge to the northwest is Dorsum Heim which arcs to the northeast of crater Caroline Herschel (14 km.). The crater to the west of Pytheas and Lambert is Euler a 28 kilometer shadowed floor cavity with a brightly illuminated inner wall on the western side. Beyond this crater to the west southwest is the irregular, complex mountain feature mons Vinogradov an old Imbrian feature. On to the north northwest along the terminator are craters Diophantus (19 km.) and Delisle (25km.) with mons Delisle in between and closer to the crater of the same name. A dorsum or ridge or perhaps a buried crater rim creates a sharp curving demarcation between illumination and darkness along the terminator.
I would have preferred to use higher magnification during this observation but the wind was gusty and making observation a challenge.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 8”x 11”, white and black Conte’pastel pencils and a blending stump. Brightness was slightly decreased (-2) and contrast increased (+3) after scanning using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian and 12mm eyepiece 121x
Date: 4-16-2008 3:36 – 4:15 UT
Temperature: 9°C (48°F)
clear, windy
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Co longitude: 35.4°
Lunation: 10 days
Illumination: 82.9 %
Phase: 48.8°
Observing Location: +41°37′ .. +87° 47′

Frank McCabe

Jets of Machholz

C/2004 Q2 Machholz

C/2004 Q2 (Machholz)
Sketch and Details by Martin Mc Kenna

Three jets issuing from the nucleus of C/2004 Q2 Machholz on Dec 28th at 18.22 LT and Dec 29th through the 8″ F/6.3 S. Cass at 49X. Over a period of several nights I could see the position of the jets changing due to the rotation of the comets nucleus. These jets were bright white linear, pencil thin features that were easy to see. CCD imagers confirmed my visual sighting several nights later. Machholz was an unusual comet as it stayed far from the sun, was visible all night high in a dark sky and was easy with the naked eye. Not all comets are so considerate as many bright new comers remain hidden within bright twilight close to the sun skirting the horizon.

I was delighted to be the first in Ireland to track down this comet – my first observation was made late on a winters night before Christmas using a Meade 3.5″ ETX from a nearby pitch – a location which let me see low down into the eastern sky. I found the comet quickly above distant rooftops and in good time to as 20 min’s later dense mist and murk obscured the this sky sector for days afterward!

Watercolor Eclipse

Lunar Eclipse

Lunar Eclipse of January 28, 1888
Painting and Details by Professor L. Weinek of Prague

The wonderful coloring of the moon, when more than one-half of its disc is immersed in the shadow of the earth, which, as we know, is produced by the refraction of the rays of the sun in the atmosphere of the earth itself has as yet not been faithfully reproduced by any one. While the eclipsed moon stands out glowing against the dark sky, it offers such a variety of the most delicate tints of red, brown and blue that the artist is inspired by the beautiful sight, and seeks to reproduce what he sees. Through similar impressions I was led to attempt the painting of the phenomenon of the 28th of January, 1888. Relying upon my color-memory I made notes during the eclipse of the colors and localities where they were to be seen, and the very next morning I executed the picture in water colors. Without relying upon one’s memory, the following would seem the safest method by which to make a correct picture of the appearance and values of colors seen at night. The night scene should first be painted at the telescope by the aid of lamp light. In this case, however, the color gradations, made by daylight, could not be relied upon, as artificial light changes the appearance of the colors considerably; the correct tints would have to be found by experiment. Moreover, this picture, having been produced by lamp light, would, if examined by day, give an entirely wrong impression of the true appearance of the original. Consequently it would become necessary to illuminate the picture by day with the same lamp, after excluding all other light (perhaps by placing the picture in a closed box and examining it through a suitable opening) and to look upon it as a new original, and then to copy it by daylight in the usual manner.

As regards my observations of this eclipse I refer to my article on the subject published in No. 2846 of the “Astronomische Nachrichten.” I observed with the six-inch STEINHEIL Refractor of the Prague Observatory, with a power of sixty diameters, and made my picture at 1 1h 18m Prague mean time. At this hour the rim of the umbra of the earth’s shadow passed through the centre of Mare Nectaris, through Mare Tranquillitatis and east of Mare Crisium as far as Mare Humboldtianum. Towards the bright portion of the moon the grayish black shading of the umbra assumed a smoky brown hue, in consequence of the penumbra of the earth ; whereas towards the eclipsed portion, south of Tycho and north of Lacus Mortis it changed to a bright blue tint, and still farther towards the northeast it turned to a most beautiful red, which may be described as being a subdued mixture of rouge de saturne and carmine; it exhibited almost all the detail of the lunar landscape, together with numerous bright objects. This red coloring was particularly beautiful over Mare Imbrium, Plato, Sinus Iridum, Copernicus, Kepler and Aristarchus, and extended in an easterly direction beyond Gassendi; while westerly from this crater Mare Nubium and Mare Humorum assumed a sombre black-brown aspect. The crater Aristarchus was as conspicuous among all other objects during the eclipse as it is when the moon is fully illuminated, owing to its remarkable brightness. In consequence of the technical difficulties which are encountered in the process of printing in colors, the relative values of the colors as well as the gradual decrease of the line of the shadow of the earth are not presented in the accompanying picture as correctly as might have been desired. On the whole, however, this reproduction may be called a satisfactory one.

Image and text published in Volume IV of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific – 1892, available at Google Books.

Last Summer’s Jupiter

Jupiter

Jupiter
Sketch and Details by Carlos E. Hernandez

Date (U.T.): July 21, 2007
Time (U.T.): 04:20
L1 300.0, L2 115.3, L3 012.3
Instrument: 9-inch (23-cm) F/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Magnification: 273x
Filters: None (IL)
Seeing (1-10): 6, Antoniadi (I-V): III
Transparency (1-6): 4-5

Notes:
South Polar Region (SPR): Appeared dark to dusky (3-4/10) and mottled.
South Temperate Zone (STZ): Appeared thin and bright (7/10).
South Temperate Belt (STB): Appeared thin and dark to dusky (3-4/10). No ovals noted at this time within it.
South Tropical Zone (STrZ): Appears bright (7/10) and contains the Great Red Spot (GRS) and a dull (5/10) band following the GRS.
Great Red Spot (GRS): Appears dusky to dull (4-5/10) with a dark (3/10) center. I was unable to time it as a tree blocked my view.
South Equatorial Belt (SEB): Appears irregular, especially preceding the Great Red Spot (GRS). The portion of the SEB preceding the GRS appears dark to dull (3-5/10) over it’s northern half whereas dusky (4/10), isolated condensations are noted along the typical southern border of the SEB. The SEB following the GRS appears dark to dusky (3-4/10) containing bright (7/10) ovals/rifts within it.
Equatorial Zone (EZ): Appears shaded to bright (6-7/10) and contains a band (EZB) across it’s midsection. Blue festoon projections (from blue festoons along the NEB-S) are also noted within it.
North Equatorial Belt (NEB): Appeared dark to dusky (3-4/10) with a bright (7/10) rift originating preceding the CM (over the southern border) and extending towards the following limb. Two blue festoon bases were noted along the southern border of the NEB.
North Temperate Belt (NTB): Appears north of the NEB as broad, dusky (4/10) band.
North Polar Region (NPR): Appears dark to dull (3-5/10) and mottled.

Hickson 70

Hickson 70

Hickson 70
Sketch and Commentary by Bill Ferris
Move cursor over image to see labels.

Hickson 70: Galaxy Cluster (Canes Venatici)
RA: 14h 04.2m / DEC: +33º 20′.3
Instrument: 18-inch Obsession

Hickson 70 resides in far eastern Canes Venatici. The magnificent M3 can be found just 7 degrees to the southwest. But this cluster presents more challenging fare. My sketch combines 199X and 272X views in the 18-inch Obsession. Seven member galaxies in this tightly-packed cluster are visible. Hickson 70A is cataloged as UGC 8990 (=MCG +06-31-59, PGC 50139) and is often misidentified as IC 4371. The 16.1(B) magnitude galaxy resides at 14 hrs., 04 min., 10 sec,; +33 deg., 20.3 minutes and is nearly centered in my sketch. It features a stellar core and covers a 0′.7 by 0′.3 area. Hickson 70D (=IC 4370, MCG +06-31-60) appears as a tiny, 16th magnitude smudge along the northern edge of Hickson 70A. About 2′ to the south, Hickson 70B (=IC 4371, MCG +06-31-61, PGC 50140) displays a stellar core embedded within a 0′.5 by 0′.3 oval glow. 11.0 magnitude SAO 63918 simmers another 2′.3 to the south. The thin sliver of light 2′ to the east of Hickson 70B is MCG +06-31-064. This 16.2(B) magnitude galaxy covers a 0′.5 by 0′.2 area and is aligned northeast to southwest. Three galaxies are grouped to the southwest of Hickson 70A. These include 16.2(B) magnitude Hickson 70E (=IC 4369, MCG +06-31-58, PGC 50134), 17.3(B) magnitude Hickson 70F (=MCG +06-31-57, PGC 50133), and 17.4 magnitude 2MASX J14040011+3319540. Hicksons 70E and 70F are very close to each other and just 1′.3 southwest of Hickson 70A. High magnification was needed to consistently separate the two.

The Emerald Eye of Ophiuchus

NGC 6572

NGC 6572
Sketch by Michael Vlasov

According to Stephen O’Meara’s Deep Sky Companion’s, NGC 6572 is 1.5 magnitudes brighter than M57 and five times smaller. This makes for a bright, and as many discover, colorful planetary nebula. Wilhelm von Struve discovered it in 1925 and described it as one of the most curious objects in the heavens, ” a star surrounded by a bright green ellipse of fuzzy light.”

The Cobra’s Head

Vallis Schroteri

Vallis Schroteri
Sketch by Serge Vieillard

Vallis Schröteri is the largest sinuous valley on the Moon. It makes its start at a 6 km diameter crater just north of Herodotus crater and widens to 10 km. This area is sometimes referred to as the Cobra’s head. It then winds 160 km and narrows to 500 m at it’s end. The rille is likely the result of volcanic activity as a lava flow carved its winding path through the landscape.