Two NGC numbers, but only one object. NGC2371/NGC2372 correspond to a bipolar planetary nebula. Easy and awesome observed from a dark skies with a good telescope aperture. A lobe is more brilliant than the other, but both are perfectly visibles. I think it could be an affordable object for medium telescope aperture as well.
For more details of my observation you can visit my blog:
Location : Castres, south-west France (near Toulouse)
Date : from 22 to 31 august 2013
Media : graphite pencil, white paper
Comments :
Dayly sketch of sun made through a small Coronado PST (H Alpha) + 15mm Televue eyepiece
Method :
1) dayly observing sun coronado around 12h TU
2) quick sketch with ballpen on paper notepad (2 minutes)
3) later copy out on drawing paper with graphite pencil (10 to 12 minutes)
4) picture take of each drawing with camera + Photoshop processing
– flipping horizontally and vertically in order to see the correct sun orientation
– grouping the 9 pictures + date on the same sheet
One may see the sun rotation from August 26 to 29 watching at spots.
I saw some material projections ejected into space (see August 30)
We currently have a great solar activity
To see the solar prominences evolution one should have to observe every hour !
Thank you for taking into consideration this small contribution
Best regards.
Very small galaxy that improved with lots of magnification. Bright core makes it an easy find even with low mag EP’s.
High level cloud made the transparency poor making it very difficult to see any detail but I could just make out a couple spiral arms inside the halo of the galaxy.
Very nice object and will go back to under better conditions.
2012 has seen the loss of another legend and inspiration. We mourn the loss of Sir Patrick Moore, who passed away on December 9th.
Moore’s friends and staff released the following statement: “After a short spell in hospital last week, it was determined that no further treatment would benefit him, and it was his wish to spend his last days in his own home, Farthings, where he today passed on, in the company of close friends and carers and his cat Ptolemy….Over the past few years, Patrick, an inspiration to generations of astronomers, fought his way back from many serious spells of illness and continued to work and write at a great rate, but this time his body was too weak to overcome the infection which set in, a few weeks ago. He was able to perform on his world record-holding TV Programme The Sky at Night right up until the most recent episode.”
Queen guitarist Brian May, further said: “Patrick will be mourned by the many to whom he was a caring uncle, and by all who loved the delightful wit and clarity of his writings, or enjoyed his fearlessly eccentric persona in public life. Patrick is irreplaceable. There will never be another Patrick Moore. But we were lucky enough to get one.”
British space scientist, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, echoed the sentiments of many amateur astronomers. She was first inspired to “look at the night sky” through Moore, saying,“He was broadcasting before we actually went into space and he saw a change in our understanding of the universe, and he took us all the way through that, right up until today. What he did was something very straightforward. He would tell us what to look for and where to look for it and for budding astronomers everywhere that is what we need, that information. But he would tell us more, he would go into depth, he would take us on a journey through space and we can’t ask for better than that really.”
Today’s tribute includes a selection of Lunar, solar system, and deep sky sketches featuring objects from Moore’s Caldwell Catalog.
I went to Japan to observe a solar annular eclipse. (My hometown is Korea.)
This picture is the moment of annular eclipse, the gold ring and the surrounding landscape.
Object name: Saturn
Object type: Planet
Location: Amsterdam
Date: 22-5-2012
Media: Pastel on black paper
Saturn with moons.
Last night, May 22-23, I had a nice view on Saturn so I placed my 8”sct/lxd75 on the balcony and tried to make a sketch. It was made with pencil on white paper, and later redrawn with pastel pencils on black paper (A4). The planets disk is approximately 3cm and the rings 8cm.
At 200 times the Cassini Division was easy to spot, as well the two most westerly moons Titan and Rhea. At around 23:30 I was sure I spotted another moon close to the planet, Tethys, but later in de evening I couldn’t see it anymore. It had crossed the planet. While looking at the Cassini Division another moon popped in to my averted vision, this one between Rhea and Saturn; Dione.
Conditions:
Seeing: 3/5
Transparency: 2/5
Temperature: 20⁰ C
I set up my dual mounting rig for both white light and h-alpha and my husband set up his LX200 with a white light filter as well. We picked a spot in the front field to optimize the horizon for sunset. I had already utilized my sky planning tools so that I knew when and where first contact would be for my scopes and had templates on two different clipboards to record my observations, one for white light and one for h-alpha. Paul had my Canon EOS DSLR Rebel hooked up to the LX200 for his imaging session. In the mean time, temperatures had gone up to 101.3 F.
The countdown began and at 2205 UT (1705 CDT) first contact was made on the NE solar limb. Just as it bit a little more into the disk, the first cloud rolled across my view preventing me from witnessing the progression into (and including) second contact. It was disappointing as I wanted to recreate Capt. Cook’s and Charles Green’s observation/sketches from 1769. My first instinct was to view first contact through h-alpha in an attempt to view more of Venus’ disk prior to transiting in front of the limb, but the transparency was bad and seeing was moderate so thought I would stick with white light for a crisp “entry”. Due to the dual mounting system, I could easily switch between the two filter systems in the first few minutes of contact.
White Light Venus Transit
The observation session ended at 0030 UT on June 6th, 2012 when a large cloud obscured our view and would be there well after Sunset. I was very grateful for the opportunity to witness this transit and the memories of it will last a lifetime.
Object name: AR1429
Object type: Active region on the solar surface
Location: Deventer, The Netherlands
Date: March 11, 2012
Media: White pastel pencils on black paper
Equipment used: 90mm h-alpha solar telescope, magnification 70x
Finally, finally, finally! A clear day! The last week has been mostly cloudy with only a few minutes of sunshine at a time; too short to make a sketch of the Sun. But today started with a deep blue sky with just a few tiny clouds. I set up my 90mm solar telescope around noon and made a sketch of AR1429, the region which might deliver northerns light in the night to come (a very rare sight in the Netherlands). The whole thing was swirling very slowly, changes could be noticed within minutes at 70x so I had to draw quickly. I would like to take a few hours to sketch all the tiny details, but because of the movements solar sketching is always a race against time. I made the sketch with white pastel on black paper, later mirrored to match the real orientation (north up, west right). Color added with Photoshop.
