Category: White Conté on Black Paper

Saturn in mid-March 2009

Saturn

Planet Saturn and moons: Tethys, Rhea and Dione
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

With the rings nearly edge on but opening just slightly, I felt it was time to record another sketch of the ringed giant. To begin the sketch I used a white Conte’ crayon and compass to draw a circle on black paper. I then used a mechanical drawing tool called a French curve to convert the circle into an ellipse after plotting a few points to create an equatorial bulge. When the shape looked alright for the bulging globe, I sketched the rings and then the globe while looking through a 4 mm orthoscopic eyepiece (magnification 362 x).

I observed Saturn for 40 minutes before beginning the sketch which took about 50 minutes to complete. I made note of the positions of the moons I could see and added Tethys (10.3) and Rhea (9.9) to the west of the planet and Dione (10.6) to the east. Titan was well beyond the planet to the west and Iapetus was visible above the planet to the south. Both of these moons were beyond the boundaries of the sketching area. The planets equatorial zone and the north and south temperate zones were bright and distinct. The darker regions over the remainder of the disk were less distinct through the polarizing filter I was using.
Although the transparency was only average at 3/5, the seeing however was exceptional at Pickering 8.5. The stars were rock steady for long intervals.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 6”x 16”, and white and black Conte’pastel pencils and Conte’ crayons. The globe of Saturn is about 2.5” inches in diameter. Brightness was slightly decreased (-3) and contrast increased (+3) after capturing the sketch using a digital camera.

Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian and 4mm eyepiece 362x, single polarizing filter
Date: 3-15-2009 4:20 – 5:10 UT
Temperature: 0°C (32°F)
clear, calm
Seeing: Pickering 8.5

Frank McCabe

Faint and Whispy or Very Tiny

Proms 022409

Solar Prominences in H-alpha Eastern Limb
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix

2009 Feb 24, 1510UT – 1600UT

Solar prominences in h-alpha, eastern limb

PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio USA
Erika Rix

DS 60mm Maxscope, LXD75, 21-7mm Zhumell
Sketch created scopeside with black Strathmore Artagain paper, white Conte’ crayon and pencil, white Prang watercolor pencil.

Temp: -5.2° C, Humidity 74%
Seeing: Wilson 4, Transparency: very poor with improvement
Cirrus to the south, winds 5mph SE
Alt: 33.6, Az: 143.9

The eastern hemisphere, especially east to the northeast, was scattered with prominences. As transparency improved, details of these little prominences came to light. The most obvious set was around 90° position angle and then a squat hedgerow one around 40°. I stopped my first sketch midway and began a fresh one with a larger limb span to include the majority of them, most which were faint and whispy or very tiny.

I counted 8 more small slender ones that weren’t included in this sketch. I’m sure that given a little more time (or perhaps ambition to stay out there longer) the improvement in transparency would have revealed a few more. There was a very sharp small plage about 20 degrees in from the north limb as well as a few very hair-like filaments, particularly west, south, and east. It is reported by another solar observer that there are two new spots in that same location, indicating a new AR.

Prominence Prayer

Prayer Prom

Solar Prominences February 23, 2009
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix

Solar prominences in h-alpha, eastern limb

PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio USA
Erika Rix

DS 60mm Maxscope, LXD75, 21-7mm Zhumell
Sketch created scopeside with black Strathmore Artagain paper, white Conte’ crayon and pencil, white Prang watercolor pencil.

Temp: -2.6° C, Humidity 66%
Seeing: Wilson 4, Transparency: very poor
Partly cloudy, winds 13mph from NW
Alt: 33.2, Az: 144.1

A fairly tall prominence stood out on the eastern limb that looked like a pair of hands loosely pressed together in prayer. Par for the course on these larger delicate features, they look almost detached until you concentrate on that area for a more in depth look. This is the prominence I concentrated on for the observation sketch. There was another smaller prom just north on the western limb close to a position angle of 290-300 degrees. It consisted of two arches messed together with small spikes on the limb next to them. Another slender prominence worth mentioning was located on the southern limb.

A thick, squat filament was just inside the limb about 45 degrees further south than the sketched prominence on the eastern limb.

When NGC 6826 Doesn’t Blink

The Blinking Planetary

NGC 6826, The Blinking Planetary Nebula
Sketch and Details by Serge Vieillard, translation by Frank McCabe

Our club organized a trip for visual telescope use at the observatory to Astroqueyras of St Véran. Six members of the group for 9 days (from the 18 to 26 of October, 2008) observed during the pre-winter period, with a program focused mainly on planetary nebulae. These were our preferred targets using the 9 m focal length Cassegrain telescope of 62 cm aperture.
Weather conditions were not optimal, but each period of good seeing was used to the maximum.
We familiarized ourselves with the instrument the first night and pointed it at obvious targets…. We spent a considerable length of time on NGC 6826, the blinking planetary with a blue in color at magnifications up to 1900x. With this instrument at these high magnifications, the central star does not blink and the central shell shows a very special form with an edge almost straight. The external hull shows zones that are nearly symmetrical and alternating between bright and dark but aspect slightly different…. Some details of contours and nuances ideally complement this observation.

Plasma Arches on the Western Limb

proms 021309

Solar Prominences on February 13, 2009
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix

2009 Feb 13, 1600UT – 1700UT

Solar prominences in h-alpha, western limb

PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio USA
Erika Rix

DS 60mm Maxscope, LXD75, 21-7mm Zhumell
Sketch created scopeside with black Strathmore Artagain paper, white Conte’ crayon and pencil, white Prang watercolor pencil.

Temp: 3° C, Humidity 60%
Seeing: Wilson 3, Transparency: poor
Scattered, winds 7mph from NNW
Alt: 34.4, Az: 159.2

Approximately 30° inward from the eastern limb, a crescent-shaped plage was seen with a dark dot during my h-alpha observation. No AR was noted in white light. There were a few proms scattered about to the north and south, but the prominences on the western limb really stood out. At first glance it looked like two detached proms, but adjusting the outer etalon and increasing magnification, that section of limb came alive with prominence structure.

North is to the 4.5 o’clock position and west is the 2.5 o’clock position in my sketch.

Saturn’s Rings Nearly Edge On

Saturn edge on and moons

Saturn and moons in mid February 2009
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Saturn in mid-February 2009

While I was awaiting the waning gibbous moon to reach a higher position in my southern sky, I decided to try my hand at a Saturn sketch. With the rings nearly edge on I find that the ring system is much less intimidating to portray. To begin the sketch I used a Conte’ crayon and circular compass to draw a faint circle on black paper. I then grabbed an old mechanical drawing tool called a French curve to convert the circle into an ellipse after plotting a few points to create an equatorial bulge. When the shape looked alright for the bulging globe, I sketched the rings and then the globe while looking through a 6 mm eyepiece (magnification 241x). Saturn usually give me trouble while sketching, so after 15 minutes I found myself making too many errors so I erased the sketch and started over on the reverse side of the paper. The second attempt went better and after an hour I considered the planet sketch finished. I made a note of the positions of the moons I could see and added Tethys (10.3) to the west of the planet and Enceladus (11.9) viewed intermittently and Dione (10.5) to the east. Titan and Rhea were visible in the eyepiece at low power but beyond the margins of the sketch. The planets equatorial zone and the north and south temperate zones were bright and distinct. The darker regions over the remainder of the disk were less distinct through the polarizing filter I was using.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 7”x 9”, and a white Conte’pastel pencil and Conte’ crayons. The globe of Saturn is about 2.5” inches in diameter and was done using sharpened pieces of Conte’ crayon. Brightness was slightly decreased (-3) and contrast increased (+3) after scanning using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian and 6mm eyepiece 241x, single polarizing filter
Date: 2-13-2009 5:25 – 6:45 UT
Temperature: -2°C (29°F)
clear, calm
Seeing: Pickering 6.0

Frank McCabe

Dances on the Solar Limb

Proms 2509

Solar prominences 2009 Feb 05, 1655UT – 1725UT
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix

2009 Feb 05, 1655UT – 1725UT

Solar prominences in h-alpha

PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio USA
Erika Rix

DS 60mm Maxscope, LXD75, 21-7mm Zhumell
Sketch created scopeside with black Strathmore Artagain paper, white Conte’ crayon and pencil, white Prang watercolor pencil.

Temp: -6.4C, Humidity 49%
Seeing: Wilson 3, Transparency: poor
Mostly clear with thin layers of cirrus, Winds: 3.5mph SSW
Alt: 23.7, Az: 139.1

There was an area that I suspected was a new AR just NW of center while observing in h-alpha. It appeared to have two small plage with a single tiny sunspot to the west of them. After pulling out the ETX70 with a white light filter, all that I could see were moments of visible granulation and there were neither faculae nor pores to be seen.

To the south, in h-alpha, there was a very bright smaller prom with several tiny fingers of proms around it. Heading about 30 degrees west around the limb I noticed a thick medium sized prom that was very faint and the base of it was nearly impossible to see.

On the NW limb were two slender proms that on closer inspection it was obvious that they were actually one intricate arch of a prominence with delicate tendrils attaching at different points within it. A filament was visible to the north of it, nearly reaching to the limb.

Other than a short thick filament to the north about 15 degrees in from the limb, as well as a few tiny proms not already mentioned, I just soaked in the surface view and called it a day.

Arch of intricate Fingers

Solar Prom Collage

Solar Prominences at PA 120 degrees on February, 3rd, 2009
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix

2009 Feb 03
Solar

PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio USA, Lat 40.01/Long -81.56 Erika Rix

What first appeared as a loop close to PA 120 degrees, became a beautiful structure with intricate fingers creating an arch. Then looking to south of it in my view (which would be heading north solar orientation wise) was a very large, faint addition to the prominence. Thankfully seeing was good enough today to increase the magnification for a closer look. It topped out close to 57x mag at Wilson’s scale of 4.

I used Strathmore Artagain, Conte’ crayon and pencil, Prang watercolor pencil. I took a photo of it in the shade rather than using the scanner. It seems to reproduce the black paper sketches best for me.

The solar graphic was from the Tilting Sun program.

A Belgium Moon Mapper and a Thirteenth Century Theologian

Mercator and Campanus

Lunar Craters Mercator and Campanus
Sketch and Details by Dale Holt

Mercator and Campanus

I scanned the terminator with my 6” refractor, looking for a feature that caught my eye just a little more than the next, that formation that shouted out “sketch me”.
I was drawn to a pair of craters on the terminator, delightfully lit by the Sun and filled with shadows of the moment.
The upper of the two craters in my sketch is Mercator named after a Belgium Moon mapper (1512-1594). It is a flooded crater of 46km diameter with a flat and smooth floor which contrasts well with the very similar sized Campanus just below which is 48km in diameter but has a central peak and more dramatic terraced walls was named in memory of Giovanni Campano a Thirteenth Century theologian, astronomer and astrologer a common combination for the time. A considerable amount of research through my lunar library has led me to identify the small but bright crater to the right of Mercator as likely to be Marth, a German Astronomer 1828-1897, illumination prevented observation of its interesting double wall.  
 
Telescope 6″ F9 Triplet refractor by Superscopes
Magnification 338X
Sketch made on Daler Rowney black paper with Conte Pastels, Derwent Pastle & watercolour pencils with plenty of blending stump action for effect
 
Dale Holt
Chippingdale Observatory
Chipping
Hertfordshire
England