Object Name: Sunspot AR1944
Object Type: sunspot
Location: Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country, Spain)
Date: 6-1-2014
Media: graphite pencil on white paper.
Hi
This is a sketch of the biggest sunspot I´ve ever seen. It´s so amazing that can be drawn with small telescopes like the one I´ve used: the Astro-Professional ED80 equiped with binoviewer, a pair of 19 mm eyepieces and a 2.6x galsspath, that gives a magnification of 78x. I have used a Baader solar film to observe the sun with security. Although the seeing was not good at all, the view was great and unforgettable.
This time I send a sketch of comet LOVEJOY from todays morning.
The observation was made with 166x magn. on my telescope.
The comet is a really nice one with both binos and telescope!
Info on my sketch.
I used graphite pencil on white paper and inverted in color.
Location : Trondheim, Norway.
This was my most recent Mars observation from a few weeks ago. With only one or two clear nights since then, the timing was such that it prevented me from being able to crack open the observatory.
The early morning of the 7th, I had ample time to let the mirrors cool down on the telescope and collimated before dark. It was a little windy but had calmed down by 3am. Still, seeing wasn’t the best. I cold make out the NPC straight away and it appeared tucked in on the western and eastern edges more so than my observation the week prior. There was a definite dark streak above the NPC in my view and a few more darkened patches scattered around the disk. Very slight limb brightening on both the preceding (just prior to the terminator toward either pole) and following limbs.
I had to nudge the scope time and time again to let Mars slowly drift through my FOV before slight variances in albedo became apparent. It was nearly impossible for me to match them up with labeling programs such as Mars Previewer II or my Mars Globe app on my iPad because the two views on those programs were a little off from each other even though I checked the date, time and location several times. In the end, I went with Mars Previewer II since I’ve been using that program the longest.
I’m very much looking forward to more opportunities with Mars as it reaches opposition. If only my primary mirror was clean…sigh.
The sketch was created using charcoal on card stock, charcoal pencils, willow charcoal, vinyl eraser pencil and kneaded rubber eraser.
This evening presented the rare, clear sky that we always look forward to enjoying. Early on some deep sky treasures presented themselves at the eyepiece but before long the Moon was up and deep sky targets became washed out. Now my attention and telescope turned toward old luna with the Moon just past full by 2.5 days. My eye ran along the terminator and the famous “four in a row” which rest upon the 61° E longitude line. All four were standing at the edge. I skipped over craters Furnerius and Petavius this time and went north to Vendelinus (147 km.) and Langrenus (133 km.) as they were the easier two sketching targets. As I sketched the younger crater Langrenus, all that was visible from the floor were the tips of the two tallest central peaks pushing up to catch the last of the sunlight. North and west of Langrenus on the eastern edge of Mare Fecunditatis, the trio of Atwood (30 km.), Naonobu (35 km.) and Bilharz (43 km.) were easily seen and parts of the ray system extending from Langrenus was detectable even at this time of low illumination. To the south and straddled by Lohse (41 km.) and Holden (48 km.), Vendelinus was showing its best look for an old shattered crater. Parts of the shallow floor were illuminated by grazing light and presenting a fine view.
Sketching:
For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 8”x 10”, white and black Conte’pastel pencils, white pearl eraser and blending stumps.
Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian and 6mm eyepiece 241x
Date: 07-25-2013 04:15-06:00 UT
Temperature: 20°C (68°F)
Clear, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Co longitude: 115.0°
Lunation: 16.7 days
Illumination: 93.0 %
Phase: 329.4°
Frank McCabe
— DEC, 16th, 2013. The transparency is bad in fog mist.
Instead, the air is warm, not cold….
Then, I have pick up a pencil to draw briefly in 30 minutes the glittering mountains central peak of Pythagoras crater.
—————-
8″ f12 refractor, x340
location ; Backyard home in South. Korea
white paper [40 x30 cm] , graphite pencils , black ink
Date of observe/ sketch ; 12, 16, 2013
Object Name NGC 6231
Object Type Open Cluster
Location Brasília-DF, Brazil
Date: October 12th, 2013 5:05 UT
Media 2HB graphite pencil on white paper, scanned and processed with GIMP
Instrument: 120mm f/5 refractor + 15mm (24x)
