Hi!
This is my very first sketch at asod. This sketch of the Great Nebula was made on november 14 in Ryczów, Poland.
object: Messier 42 – The Great Orion Nebula
location: Ryczów, Poland
date: november 14, 2010
instrument: Orion 200/1000, LVW 8mm
Katarzyna Kurdek
NGC 5194/5195 (M-51)
The “Whirlpool Galaxy”
Interacting galaxies
24/05/06
Ilford NSW Australia
41cm f4.5 dobsonian telescope
Field: 23′
Magnification: x210
Canes Venatici
Black Canford paper
White pen
White pencil
White pastel chalk
Blending stump
Paint brush
What can I say about the Whirlpool Galaxy?
At my location Messier 51 is at a little over +47 deg, so it is about as far north as I can go without getting ridiculous, especially when there is a big chunk of glass sitting at the bottom of the telescope.
At this extreme declination I only require a modest chair to sit on as the object is so low in the northern sky.
I done this sketch in 2006 in my old 41cm dob, which was before I purchased a sky quality meter so information on the “seeing” conditions is a bit scant.
However the northern sky from my site always seems to look a bit hazy down low despite the fact that there is no major city in that direction except from the
rural township of Mudgee some 40km away.
I best leave any thoughts on my interpretation of NGC 5194/5195 for those who observe it far higher in the sky than me.
Scott Mellish
Galaxy NGC 1023 in Perseus
This is a bright galaxy in the constellation of Perseus that can be seen in a 4.25 inch scope under good sky conditions. NGC 1023 is morphologically classified as a SBO lenticular barred galaxy. It looks much like an armless spiral galaxy in large telescope images. At 33 million light years away it is surprisingly bright at 9.5-10.2 visual magnitude and has a bright nuclear core. The bar was not detectable. A faint companion NGC 1023A is superimposed on its eastern side but also not detectable visually in a 10″ scope. This is a pretty good target from light polluted skies if you are looking for galaxies with a modest instrument on a moonless night.
Sketching:
NGC 1023
Date and Time: 11-2-2010, 10:30pm – 11:15pm local time
Scope: 10” f/5.7 Dobsonian. 12 mm eyepiece 121x
8″x 12″ black sketching paper, white Conte’ pastel pencil,
blending stump, printer scanned
Seeing: Pickering 6/10
Transparency: Average 4/5
Faintest stars visible overhead 4.2
Temperature: 3°C (38°F) calm
Galaxy magnitude: 9.5- 10.2
Distance: 33 million light years
Location Constellation: Pegasus
R.A. 2h 40m 24s; Dec +39° 04′
Frank McCabe
NGC 1365
Barred spiral galaxy
Fornax
09/08/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 27′
Magnification: 218x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:57
Black Canford paper
White pen
Soft white pencil
White pastel chalk
White oil pencil
Paint brush
Blending stump
NGC 1365 was discovered by James Dunlop in 1826, and ranks as one of the most beautiful barred spiral galaxies in the skies.
In the 56cm dob one can only describe the view via the use of superlatives.
Scott Mellish
object : NGC 6992
type : supernova remain
Location : observatory of Mt Chiran (France, alt : 1905m)
Date : 2010.08.04
Media : pastel, white pencil, black paper
Equipment : 12″ Newtonian 24 panoptic UHC Filter
Good transparency, 2 hours of sketching
Boris Emeriau
Mare Crisium: One Day Past Full Moon
I made a decision on Saturday evening I was going to try and complete a lunar sketch of Mare Crisium even though the chances of success were poor. I was forced to stop 3 times by dense clouds and a little rain but three and half hours after beginning, something of the view ended up on the paper.
Mare Crisium is that interesting isolated sea on the northeastern side of the visible lunar surface.
The robotic Luna 24 took soil and rock samples from this sea floor and returned them to the U.S.S.R. back in 1976.
The Nectarian Period event that formed this feature occurred more than 3.8 billion years ago as an asteroid –type body slammed into the moon from the west. The mare portion of the basin is about 500 kilometers across and segments of the low ridges of the inner basin ring (375 km.) were visible in the grazing sunlight on the eastern floor. These features are Dorsum Tetyaev and to the south Dorsum Harker just beyond the massifs of Cape Agarum. On the western floor crater Picard (24 km.) and Peirce (19 km.) were also noted.
Beyond the sea to the West crater Proclus (28 km.) with its remarkable bright rays was reflecting much sunlight and large crater Cleomedes (126 km.) to the north was showing off its central peak.
I hope to have another go at this region of the moon in the near future under better conditions.
Sketching:
For this sketch I used: black Canson paper 9″x 12″, white and black Conte’
pastel pencils , and Conte’crayons, a blending stump, plastic eraser. Brightness was decreased -2 and contrast increased +2 using the scanner for this sketch
Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian with 6mm (241x) and 8mm (181x ) eyepieces
Date: 10-24-2010 2:05-5:30 UT
Temperature: 16°C (60°F)
Weather: mostly cloudy, some rain, windy
Seeing: Antoniadi IV
Co longitude: 107°
Lunation: 16.4 days
Illumination: 98.7%
Oak Forest, Illinois
Frank McCabe
NGC 5566/5569/5560
Galaxies
Virgo
14/05/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5.0 dobsonian telescope
Field: 17′
Magnification: 354x
Sky quality meter reading: 21:38
Black Canford paper
White pen
White pencil
White pastel chalk
Fine tip paint brush
From the Realm Of The Nebulae comes this interesting trio of relatively bright galaxies.
From the top of the sketch we have NGC 5569 followed by NGC 5566 (Arp 286) and at the bottom is
NGC 5560.
Deep images show that these galaxies are interacting, with the dominant member being NGC 5566.
One of the best images of this little combination featured on APOD recently http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100813.html
and shows them in all their glory.
Though I would have to say that sketching materials are a lot less expensive than fitting oneself of with CCD gear.
Scott Mellish
NGC 7089 (Messier 2)
Globular cluster
Aquarius
08/08/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 27′
Magnification: 218x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:44
Black Canford paper
White pen
White pencil
White pastel chalk
Paint brush
NGC 7089 is a very pretty globular cluster and I spent a considerable time at the eyepiece painstakingly detailing and plotting all the stars as accurately as possible.
In the 56cm dob the cluster was well resolved into stars, with even the central core showing a sprinkling of tiny points.
This object was a very enjoyable experience.
Scott Mellish.
NGC 839/838/835/833
Hickson 16
Cetus
09/08/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 15′
Magnification: 314x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:57
Black Canford paper
White pen
White pencil
White pastel chalk
Blending stump
Paint brush
This lovely little chain of four galaxies was easily visible in the 56cm dob.
Though small all of them were fairly bright at around mag 12.5.
Quite a number of the Hickson galaxy groups are faint and challenging objects.
This group however was a pleasant surprise.
Scott Mellish
Palomar 8
Globular Cluster
Sagittarius
08/08/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 17′
Magnification: 354x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:71
Black Canford paper
White pen
White oil pencil
Paint brush
The Palomar globular clusters numbering 15 in total were discovered on the original National Geographic-Palomar Sky Survey plates of the early 1950’s.
Those who first determined their nature as globulars were the likes of George Abell, Edwin Hubble, Walter Baade, Fritz Zwicky and Halton Arp.
Some of the globulars such as Pal 8 seen here are faint but not beyond the reach of amateur telescopes under good dark skies.
Palomar 8 in the 56cm was quite diffuse and partially resolved, but visible without averted vision.
18 41 29.9 -19 49 33.
Scott Mellish
