Two Big Prominences on the Edge

Two large solar prominences on the limb - October 4, 2014
Two large solar prominences on the limb – October 4, 2014

Object Name: Sun
Object Type: Solar prominence
Location: Deventer, The Netherlands
Date: October 4, 2014
Media: pastel pencils on black paper

As the days shorten rapidly and the sun gets more south every day, the warm afternoons are coming to an end in the Netherlands. On what could be the last sunny and warm day of the year, the active Sun was the obvious target for an astronomical sketch. I set up my modded 60mm Unitron/Polarex refractor and sketched two large prominences on the western edge of the solar disk. The prominences were of the “stable” and relatively long lasting type, but still a lot of internal swirling and changes in brightness could be seen in both at high magnifications. Due to seeing conditions magnifications were limited to about 80x-100x. I made two separate sketches, but got the idea of combining them in a composition when photographing them afterwards.

Kind regards,
Roel Weijenberg

Crater Gassendi and the northern part of Mare Humorum

Lunar crater Gassendi and the the northern part of Mare Humorum - September 5, 2014
Lunar crater Gassendi and the the northern part of Mare Humorum – September 5, 2014

Here is a sketch of the Moon on the 5th of September from my backyard
in Adelaide, South Australia.

The moons phase was waxing at 83%, with only the very western edge
still in shadow. I observed with a C11 SCT. Seeing was quite
reasonable, so I took a 15mm eyepiece + 2x Barlow for a close look.

The shallow illumination on Mare Humorum made the creases on the mare
floor stand out. Crater Gassendi, toward the bottom, showed stark
shadows. Rimae Hippalus was visible, passing through the partially
submerged crater Hippalus at the top right. Because I used a diagonal
prism, the sketch is mirror imaged.

I used pastel chalks and black and white pastel pencils on black
paper.

-Ivan

NGC 6520 and Barnard 86

NGC 6520 and Barnard 86
NGC 6520 and Barnard 86

Object Name: NGC 6520 and Barnard 86.
RA: 18h 03m 25.1s; Dec: -27° 53′ 28″
Magnitude: 7.6
NGC 6520 size: 6′
Distance: 6,000 light-years approx.
Constellation: Sagittarius.
Type: Open Cluster and Dark Nebula.
Description NGC 6520: Cl, pS, Ri, lV, st 9 … 13
Location: Bonilla. Cuenca. SPAIN
Date: July 24, 2014.
Time: 00:10 UT.
Material used: pastel pencils and white ink on black paper. Inverted image with Photoshop.
Celestron Telescope S/C 8″ Mount Cgt-5
Eyepiece: LV-M 22mm; Magnification: 92x.
Condition: 21.39 SQM. Temperature: 16º. Humidity 29%. Calm wind.

Spring’s Trio

Spring's Trio, "The Leo Triplet", galaxies M65, M66 and NGC 3628
Spring’s Trio, “The Leo Triplet”, galaxies M65, M66 and NGC 3628

It is spring’s trio.

The dark lane in the 3628 is really fantastic!

Before this sketch, I always confused M65 and M66.
But now I can classify 65 & 66.
Sketch is magical tool in the visual astronomy. 🙂

Object Name : Leo triple
Object Type : Galaxies
Location : S. Korea
Date : Nov. 11, 2013
Equipment : Discovery 15″ Dob
Media : Black paper, Jelly pen, Pastel pencil

The Challenge of Finding the Owl’s Eyes

Messier 97 - The Owl Nebula, a planetary nebula
Messier 97 – The Owl Nebula, a planetary nebula

The observing of the owl’s eye is very difficult for me.

I just have a glimsed by sketch…

Object Name : M97 (Owl Nebula)
Object Type : Planetary Nebula
Location : S. Korea
Date : Mar. 30, 2013
Equipment : Discovery 15″ Dob
Media : Black paper, Jelly pen, Pastel pencil

The Pipe Nebula

The Pipe Nebula
The Pipe Nebula

Hi,

For the first time I send you one of my sketches. I sketched the Pipe Nebula a month ago at Hakos Guestfarm / Namibia. It’s the first finished of about 20 sketches I did during 6 nights.

Data:
Object Name: Pipe Nebula (made of lots of Barnard Dark Nebulae)
Object type: Dark Nebula
Location: Hakos Guestfarm, Namib Naukluft, Namibia
Date: June 2nd and 3rd, 2014 (two nights, about 4 hours total of sketching while nebula passed zenith)
Media: Pastel and graphite pencils
Optics: Fujinon 25×150 Binoculars

Additional aspects:
Field is about 7 degrees wide.To concentrate on object (and not on dimensions) I used a pattern of stars printed from Guide 9. Sketch is processed with Photshop to change appearance from Grey/White to Black/Grey. Pinpoint stars and Globular Clusters added by Photoshop (to replace printed and sketched stars)

More sketches:
http://www.astrozeichnen.de/

Clear Skies!

Rainer

The Biggest Face in the Universe!

Messier 84/86 Group of Galaxies
Messier 84/86 Group of Galaxies

Seeing many objects in an eyepiece view is my favorite things!

So, I love galaxy groups.

M84/86 group like face shape.

He has two eyes, one little nose, smiling mouth, only one eyebrow, and ear…

It is biggest face in the universe!

Object Name : M84/86 group
Object Type : Galaxies
Location : S. Korea
Date : May. 30, 2014
Equipment : Discovery 15″ Dob
Media : Black paper, Jelly pen, Pastel pencil

Nightwid 無雲