Category: Moon

14.16-day-old Moon

Gibbous Moon - February 14, 2014
Gibbous Moon – February 14, 2014

I’ve been doing a study on lunar phases and this is my latest sketch. This is a photo of it from last night after wrapping up my observing session. No adjustments have been made to the sketch other than cropping the lower blank portion of the paper.

My phase sketches used to take close to two hours to complete at the eyepiece. I’ve been building up my endurance to 3-4 hours for a single sketch to include more detail. Obviously, the terminator is drawn first to “freeze” the time stamp on the phase. Then I work my way across the disk at a more leisurely pace, moving my observing chair and stool gradually as the session progresses.

I used a 102mm f/9.8 refractor on an LXD75 mount, 20mm eyepiece setting on my Hyperion zoom, and a 13% T Moon filter to help with contrast. The media is black Strathmore Artagain paper (60 lb., 160 g/m2), white charcoal pencil, black charcoal pencil, white Conte’ crayon, white Conte’ pastel pencil, black Conte’ color pencil,and a blending stump for the maria. I used a circular 6-inch protractor to outline the lunar disk.

Total eyepiece/sketch time is just over four hours on this one.

Best regards,
Erika Rix
www.pcwobservatory.com
Texas, USA

Cook Crater

Cook Crater - February 3, 2014
Cook Crater – February 3, 2014

Object-Cook crater, Moon
Type-Crater
Location-Bangalore, India
Date-3-Feb-2014
Media-0.7mm click pencil, eraser, Processed with PS5…
Seeing condition-Average from city.
Instrument- Sky130mm f6.9Newtonian and Ioptron SmartEQ portable GEM.. 6mm eyepiece…

Hi guys, I sketched this after few weeks… I used Blade to whiten the crater borders….

Regards,
Santhosh S

Four Day Old Waning Lunar Crescent

Crescent Moon - February 3, 2014
Crescent Moon – February 3, 2014

An unusually clear winter day here in Chicagoland with high clouds racing towards us in front of our next round of snow. As twilight began the Moon remained at a good altitude for sketching as long as I worked quickly. During this sketch earthshine became exceptional but high thin clouds began to erase the fine view and heavy clouds ended the sketch before I finished.
Sketching:
For this sketch I used black sketching paper (12” x 14”), white and black Conte’ pastel pencils, blending stumps, white Pearl eraser.

Telescope 4.25”f/5 Dobsonian riding on an equatorial platform, 21mm wide field eyepiece 26x
Date and Time: 02-03-2014; 17:30 – 18:25 local time
Seeing: mostly Antoniadi III
Transparency: clear to overcast
Temperature: -6.7 °C (20°F)
Colongitude: 315.8°
Lunation: 3.85 days
Illumination: 20%
Favorable longitudinal libration

Frank McCabe

Three days in the life of crater Philolaus

Philolaus Crater
Philolaus Crater

Three nights in a row clear sky, it doesn’t happen a lot in cloudy Belgium. I guess I was just lucky. Nice to see the changing shadows and libration. I hope you like it too.

Clear skies
Jef De Wit

Object: Philolaus (+ Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, Mouchez and Poncelet)
Object type: lunar crater
Location: Hove, Belgium (51°09’ N 4°28’ E)
Date and time: 11-13 January 2014
Equipment: 8 cm refractor (WO Zenithstar 80 FD)
Eyepiece: 3,5 mm Nagler T6 (158x)
Medium: white, gray and black pastel pencils on black paper, scanned, contrast
adjustments with Paint Shop Pro, compilation and text with Paint

Hevelius Crater

Hevelius Crater
Hevelius Crater

Moon crater ” Hevelius ” … a marginal phenomenon !

Hello,

even though we had already almost full moon, I wanted to take advantage of the clear weather. 21.00 clock then I moved my MON 2 with the TMB manually on our cosmic neighbor.
Since stabbed veeery on the edge out a very pretty crater group. The air was relatively quiet and the 6mm Ortho at about 133x I was excited about the harsh contrasts around the impact site and the shadow boundary. I quickly got my sketch pad and pencils to capture the scene.

That it was the crater Hevelius ( about 100km in diameter) , I had to investigate . I found something in my Moon Atlas from the 60s and in the virtual Moon Atlas . Cavalerius is the second largest crater in the group with about 60km and the crater Lohrmann with about 30km rounded out the picture.

I hope that you like it!

CS Uwe

Object name: “Hevelius” Crater
Object: Lunar Crater
Location: Germany near Tauberbischofsheim
Date: 15.12.2013
Telescope : TMB 115/805
Magnification: 133x
Eyepiece: Baader Genuine Ortho 6mm

Mount Leibnitz and Environs

Mount Leibnitz and Environs
Mount Leibnitz and Environs

Hello artists,we come in New Year,i hope good Year for all.
I sent one of my last Moon Sketch,made with my dobson 10″ and 12,4 mm
Erfle plus Barlow.
I hope to made in future other sketches with this technics.Frank Mc Cabe
is the Master of this.
I hope like you.
Auguri a tutti di un Bello e Limpido 2014!!!
Ciao,Giorgio.

Site: Pergola,Center Italy,behind my home.
Date: 24 September 2013.
Moon phase: Down (19,6 days)
Instrument: Dobson Gso 10″
Eyepiece: 12,4mm erfle plus Barlow(201,6 x)
Seeing: Good
Zone: Mount Leibnitz ( 8.000 meter of altitude).
Media: White pencil on black paper.

Sacrobosco and Environs

Sacrobosco and Environs - January 7, 2014Sacrobosco and Environs
Sacrobosco and Environs – January 7, 2014

Hi Guys, this is my Second lunar sketch… Today, moon was really good from my house…
So Tried it….

Location: Bangalore, India.
Date: 8-Nov-2013
Media: HB Graphite pencil(Click pencil), Eraser, 8B pencil….
Instrument: 130mm f-6.9 Newtonian.

Pls Do comment how I can improve….

Langrenus and Vendelinus Sunset Approaches

Langrenus and Vendelinus Craters
Langrenus and Vendelinus Craters

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

Pythagoras Central Peak

Pythagoras Central Peak
Pythagoras Central Peak

— 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