Category: emission

Thor’s Helmet

NGC 2359
NGC 2359

Object Name NGC 2359
Object Type emission nebula around Wolf Rayet star
Location Budy Dłutowskie – small village in central Poland
Date 05.03.2013
Media graphite pencil, white paper, color invert
Telescope Columbus 320UL (320/1384 Newtonian) +
Nagler 22mm + Baader OIII 2”
Seeing 2/5 (good)
Transparency 2/5 (good)
NELM 5,7 mag

In my opinin this object is very underestimated. Usually
astrophotographers choose it as their targets but viusual observers
don’t look at this nebula very often. And this is very bad…. because
object is really impressive. In 10-12” telescopes (or greater of
course) you can see main central helmet shaped part of nebula and
after 2-3 minutes of adaptation you can observe beautiful wings which
grows from central part. Inside helmet, around central W-R star you
can see delicate linear structures created by nebula gas.

OIII filter is necessary and it is greatly improve contrast and shows
many details of this very beutiful object.

If have an occasion try to see it. You won’t be dissapointed 🙂

Clear Sky
Łukasz

M42 Trapezium

M42 Trapezium
M42 Trapezium

Object Name: M42- Trapezium
Object Type: Nebula
Constellation: Orion
Location: Fredericksburg, Texas
Date: 02/07/13
Time: 21:20 CST
Conditions: Clear; Breezy
Seeing: 3/5; Transparency: 4/5
Equipment: 280mm SCT, 12.5mm EP
Power: 224x
FOV: 12′
Medium: Graphite pencil and Blending Stump on white paper. Photographed and color inverted.

I know this is a popular object. It’s beautiful in just about any telescope even from a light polluted area. But from a dark sky site (near 7 mag) like the one I was at it is unbelievable. So rich in nebulosity my sketch barely does it justice. At about 1400 light years and a diameter of some 24 light years this stellar nursery is fascinating! I have read that, besides being one of the closest star forming regions, the brightest stars and the youngest ones may be only 100,000 years old. I never tire of observing the Great Nebula!!!!

John E.

Messier 43

Messier 43
Messier 43

[An excerpt from Dale Holt’s blog: Chippingdaleobservatory Blog ]
…I pushed onto the great Orion nebula, just intending to take a look but ended up once again trying to be artistic in a rendering of M43 the little brother to the much better known M42, to me this nebula is a ‘morsel’ about to be swallowed by the Angel fish that is M42 the great Orion Nebula. Putting dazzling M42 just out of the field to avoid its distraction one could view this nebula as a standalone and appreciate its form and the intricate darker regions and lanes that bisect it. When I showed my pastel sketch to friend Es Reid the next day, flatteringly he referred to it as like an ‘impressionist’s painting’ that will do for me 🙂

NGC 1980 and Messier 42

NGC 1980 and Messier 42
NGC 1980 and Messier 42

Object Name: NGC 1980
Location: RA: 05h 35m 25.9s, Dec: -05 ° 54 ’35 ”
Magnitude: 2.5
Dimensions: 14′ x 14’
Constellation: Orion
Type: Open Cluster associated with nebulosity.
Observing Location: Bonilla. Cuenca. SPAIN
Date: December 9, 2012.
Time: 23:15 T.U.

Material used: Graphite pencil on white paper. Inverted image and processed with Photoshop.
Celestron Telescope S / C 8″ Mount Cgt-5
Eyepiece: Hyperion Aspheric 31 mm; Magnification: 65x.
Conditions: NEML: 6.13 (Zone 6 Peg.) Temp.: 0.4°C; Humidity 68%.

More information: http://astrodibujo.blogspot.com.es/

Success with the Crescent

NGC 6888
NGC 6888

Object: NGC 6888 “The Crescent Nebula”
Object Type: Diffuse Nebula
Location: Orleans, Ont., Canada
Date: September 10 and 11
Media: graphite on white bond paper

I like hunting for challenging deep sky objects. Unfortunately, my backyard observing site is very light polluted so faint objects with low surface brightness are difficult at best. My log book is full of notes “failed to see Crescent Nebula”. But on the night of September 10, I did manage it to see it using my 12″ Skywatcher dob with a 17mm Hyperion (88x) and an OIII filter. The northern part was quite clear using averted vision but the southern part was more difficult. When I viewed this object again the following night (Sept 11) using higher magnification (115x) I was able to complete the crescent. A few nights later I was at a RASC star party in Cumberland, Ont., with much darker skies and I was able to confirm my observation.

Keep look up,
Gordon

Trifid from Roque de los Muchachos

Messier 20
Messier 20

Object Name: M20, Trifid Nebula
Object Type: Galactic Nebula (emission, reflection and dark components)
Obeservation Location: Roque de Los Muchachos, La Palma
Date: 2. June 2011
Media: Chalk pencil on black paper
Observer: Christian Rausch
Telescope: 12inch/F5 Dobson (Hofheim Instruments)

Conditions:
– SQML = 21,7 mag/arcsec*2, seeing good, Temp. +14C, dry
– V=114x (Nagler 13mm)

The Roque de los Muchachos, La Palma, is one of the best places to observe the night sky and main base of the European Northern Observatory.

It took me quite some time to get the sketch, I’ve never seen so much detail within this object before. The sky at the app. 2400m high volcano is amazing, in a few weeks I’ll return there with 2 friends.

This time we’ll also have a 20 inch telescope….

Best Regards
Christian

http://www.licht-stimmungen.de/

Rosette Nebula

Rosette Nebula
Rosette Nebula

hi asod,I send this last observation of the Rosette Nebula.the sky that day was not very transparent,but after an hour of observation I could see many details and translate to paper.
the details are subtle and contrasted with this great filter.greetings and thanks

Object Name: ngc 2239/2244/2238 rosette nebula
Object Type: open cluster and bright nebula
Location: bonilla cuenca / spain
Date: 5 january 2013 hour 22:00 < 23:00 temp. -1 ° C humidity 72% nelm 5,4 bortle scale 3/9 Media: graphite pencil and gimp tools optical equipment: meade lightbridge 10'' & explore scientific 30mm 82° 42x increases 1,9° field 6mm exit pupil omega optics npb filter

The Trapezium in M42

M42 Trapezium
M42 Trapezium

My main observing objects are moon & planets, and I do not invest much time in observing DSO.

But whenever winter season comes, I used to aim my telescopes at the Great orion nebula .

This December, I have observed it 3 times ( 3 day ) with a 16 inch Meade starfinder Dobson , and unfortunately all 3 nights were in bad seeing, the 4 stars in the Trapezium were looked like fat cottons.

Even this seeing condition with a little-bit light polluted site , environs nebula structures were seen quite well .

—————–

16 inches dob reflector x 90

date; 3 weekends in DEC. 2012

location; at backyard home in South korea

media; graphite pencils , a white A4 printer paper

inverted image