Chalk Pastels – Astronomy Sketch of the Day

Posidonius Crater

Hi all,

yesterday evening just before the altocumulus clouds of the approaching depression covered the sky, I could do another sketch of the moon: This time it was crater Posidonius and its surroundings.

Ah, by the way, this time I tried a new pen: For the bright areas (e. g. the western rims of Posidonius A and J), I took a whitecoal pen instead of chalk pen. That provided much brighter contrast.

Another novelty for me: I didn’t use a diagonal but an Amici prism, so that the view in the eyepiece wasn’t mirrored at all. The view was a bit less bright, but for the moon it’s still bright enough.

Object Name: Posidonius
Object Type: Lunar Crater
Location: Germany, Dusseldorf area
Date: 2015-04-24, 2130-2205 CEST
Media: chalk pastel pencil, whitecoal pencil and charcoal pencil on black sketching cardbox
Telescope: Celestron Nexstar 127 SLT
Eyepiece: TS HR Planetary 7mm

Clear skies

Achim

Vallis Schröteri

Hi,

find attached a charcoal and pastel sketch of Aristarchus, Herodotus and the famous Vallis Schröteri. I hope you like it.

Object Name: Vallis Schröteri, Aristarchus, Herodotus
Object Type: Lunar Valley and Crater
Location: Germany, Dusseldorf area
Date: 2015-01-02, 1800-1845 CET
Media: chalk pastel pencil and charcoal pencil on black sketching cardbox
Telescope: Martini 10” f/5 Dobsonian
Eyepiece: Skywatcher HR Planetary 5mm
Clear skies!

Achim

NGC 3372 The Keyhole Nebula

NGC 3372,"The Carina Nebula" aka "The Great Nebula in Carina" and the "Keyhole Nebula" portion of this complex emission, reflection and dark nebula. — NGC 3372,”The Carina Nebula” aka “The Great Nebula in Carina” and the “Keyhole Nebula” portion of this complex emission, reflection and dark nebula.

Hi,

The constellation Carina alone makes it worthwhile travelling to Southern Africa – and the Carina Nebula NGC 3372 is the heart of it – especially for visual observing. NGC 3372 is studded with bright and even dark nebulae. The most impressive to me is a combination of “light & shadow” – the Keyhole Nebula (the famous “eta carina” is the bright star at lower left).

Data:
Object Name: Keyhole Nebula (in NGC 3372)
Object type: Galactic Nebula
Location: Hakos Guestfarm, Namib Naukluft, Namibia
Date: June 1st & 2nd, 2014 (about 3 hours total of sketching)
Media: Pastel and graphite pencils
Optics: 24” Dobson f 4.0, 300x
No filter

Additional aspects:
Field is about 12 x 15’ wide, north is up. To concentrate on object (and not on dimensions) I used a pattern of stars printed from Guide 9 as a template. Pinpoint stars added by image processing software (to replace printed and sketched stars)

More sketches:

http://www.astrosketching.com

Clear Skies!
Rainer

NGC 1169 An Obsecure Galaxy in Perseus

Object Name: NGC 1169 in Perseus
Object Type: Galaxy Type Sb/SBb
Location: West Desert, Rush Valley, Utah
Date: November 6 2012
Time: 03:12 UT
Seeing: Antoniadi II
V. Mag: 11.6
Surface Brightness: 14.1
Size: 4.2’ x 2.8’
Scope: 14”Dobstuff with Zambuto mirror
Eyepiece: 10m Pentax XW w/Type I Paracorr (white lettering).
Media: Black Paper with chalk pastel (Mellish Method)

I’ve decided instead of jumping all around to return to the Herschel 400 II to complete that list as my new scope is now done being built. I’m still learning the nuisances of the scope but I need the clouds to get out of the way more at new moon! The galaxy is pretty bright but it is small. Using averted vision shows a faint halo. The core is very bright and there is a 13 to 13.5 mag star (estimated) on the southwest side of the core, rather super-imposed on it.

This sketch is dedicated to the late StepDad of Phil or City-Kid over at CloudyNights who passed away in late October. JC Miller was very interested in astronomy. May his light continue to reach his family and friends though out their lives as the light from objects above continue to reach each of us who look for them.

View of a Colorful Conjunction

Tonight I was hoping to glimpse the conjunction of the Moon with Jupiter. There was a lot of moisture in the air & as I often observe here in Hawaii when there is a lot of moisture in the air there was a lovely 22 degree Moon halo. Jupiter was a mere 2 degrees from the Moon & made a lovely sight. With the extra moisture in the air there was also a hint of red in the surrounding glow around the Moon. I sat down on the porch to sketch & when I looked up could not resist including Christmas lights under the eves that were in my view. Happy Holidays & clear skies all.

Thia Krach
Maui, Hawaii
4,000 ft elevation
Fair seeing condition making for lovely phenomenon
Black paper with chalk & oil pastel

Addendum

Something nagged me as I thought about Jupiter & the Moon last night after I submitted my sketch. I realized they were not 2* apart when I sketched them as they would have been at their closest conjunction. Earlier in the evening when the skies were cloudy is when they would have appeared to be closest.

Best,
Thia Krach