planetary – Page 13 – Astronomy Sketch of the Day

The Lord’s Ring

Messier 57
Sketch and Details by Tomás Ruiz Lara

I’m a lovely fan of the trilogy “The Lord of The Rings”, written by J.R.R. Tolkien. When I’m observing this nebula I always remember Gandalf and his pipe. This is a precious nebula, my favourite planetary nebula, easy to locate, easy to observe and lovely. This Sketch was done with a common pencil and with cotton to sketch the nebula and the stars was created with the program Gimp 2.6.7.
Equipment used, 260 mm newtonian reflector f/6 with a 21 mm eyepiece and a 2x Barlow (Barlow 2x Vixen Deluxe) (149x).
Seeing: 2/5
Phase of the Moon: Crescent but not visible.

Open Cluster with a Surprise

Messier 46 and NGC 2438
Sketch and Details by Oscar Ll. (Almach)

Object Type: Open Cluster – Planetary Nebula

Location: Barcelona – Spain

M46 is one of my favorites open cluster. But is necessary dark skies without light pollution in order to enjoy with its view.

This open cluster practically fills the eyepiece field with 50x. We can see a large number of stars not too bright, between 9th and 14th magnitude… and the surprise: the planetary nebula NGC2438. To see the planetary I had to use an OIII filter.

For more details of my observation you can visit my blog:

http://laorilladelcosmos.blogspot.com/2010/01/m46-cumulo-abierto-con-sorpresa-en.html

M46 – Open Cluster / NGC 2438 Planetary Nebula

Date and Time: 2010-01-15, 23h 24m UT

Telescope: SC Celestron Nexstar 5i (5″)

Eyepiece: 25mm (50x)

White paper, HB2 graphite pencil, and scanned and inverted with Photoshop

Seeing: 4/5 (5 the best)

Transparency: Clear. Moderate light pollution.

Location Constellation: Puppis

Position: R.A. 07 h 42 min

Dec. -14° 49′

Thank you and best regards.

Oscar

Messier 46 and NGC 2438

Messier 46 and NGC 2438
Sketch and Details by Paul Byrne

This was rendered with a fine point pen for the stars, the nebula was sketched with charcoal and blending stump.

I observed the cluster through a 305mm Orion Newtonian and 13mm Nagler. The date was 9th January 2010 at 01.12 UT, it was very cold with a sharp northerly wind, the temperature was well below freezing.

The nebula was not visible until an O-III filter was inserted and it popped into view.

Thanks for your time.

Paul

NGC 6302 – The Bug Nebula

NGC 6302 – The Bug Nebula
Sketch and Details by Scott Mellish

NGC 6302 “The Bug Nebula”
Planetary Nebula
Sagittarius
19/09/09
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 dobsonian
Field: 15′
Magnification: 314x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:38

Black Canford paper
White pen
White pencil
White pastel chalk
Blending stump

It had been a while since I visited the Bug Nebula.
As Sagittarius was getting a bit low in the west I thought I might catch it before it went behind the trees.
I was pleased with the eyepiece view and remembered the Hubble image of it.

While the Hubble image wins hands down with subtle detail, the view through a large aperture dob is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

Scott Mellish

Ending and Beginning

M27 (NGC 6853), The Dumbell Nebula
Sketch and Details by Manuel Angel Pacheco Aguilar

* M27/NGC 6853
* Planetary Nebula
* Fuente de Piedra, Málaga (Spain)
* 18/10/2009 (00h15m)

Material used:
Pencil and paper with post-processing with phtoshop CS2

Instrument:
Celestron Telescope S / C 150mm f10 Nextstar and Celestron E-lux Eyepiece 25mm (60x)

Atmospheric conditions:
Transparency good
Seeing: III (I: very bad – IV: very good)

Three views of a Planetary Nebula

NGC 40, a planetary nebula in Cepheus
Sketch and Details by Jeff Young

NGC40, a planetary nebula in Cepheus, progressively shows more and more structure as the magnification goes up. At 150X, I see a bright star surrounded by a bright, circular halo.

235X reveals a brightness gradient, with the south end appearing somewhat dimmer. 335X is better yet, revealing a slight pinching along the north-south axis, with brighter sections at the east and west periphery.

NGC 40, a planetary nebula in Cepheus
Sketch and Details by Jeff Young

450X is really getting into the swing of things, with knots along the western bright edge. 600X goes on to reveal the last knot (to the south end of the chain) to be a foreground star.

NGC 40, a planetary nebula in Cepheus
Sketch and Details by Jeff Young

Sketched from County Louth, Ireland, as viewed through a 16” Mak-Cass at 150X, 335X and 600X. Daler-Rowney HB Artist’s Graphic pencil on 150gsm cartridge paper. Scanned and inverted in Photoshop.

— Jeff.

Dumbbell Minor

M76, The Little Dumbell in Perseus
Sketch and Details by Michael Vlasov

M-76 (The Little Dumbbell) planetary nebula in Perseus.

At over 10th magnitude – it is one of the least prominent Messier objects. M-76 has two NGC designations: 650 and 651. The nubula resembles “Dumbbell Nebula” (M27), but much dimmer and more elongated. It’s southern half is slightly brighter. M76’s central star has a magnitude of over 17, and can not be observed visually. Use of UHC filter didn’t reveal any spectacular features on the nebula.

Observation and sketch details: Negev desert (Israel). Transparency was mediocre, compared to typical conditions (around 6.1m). The sketch was made using 8″ Orion equatorial Newtonian, at 125x power, graphite pencil and a red light.

Object Name: M-76 , The Little Dumbbell
Object Type planetary nebula
Location Negev Desert, Israel
Date 17/10/2009

Dragon’s Eye

NGC 6543 Planetary nebula in Draco
Sketch and Details by Per-Jonny Bremseth

Please double click on image to see larger version

Hey !

I send you N.G.C. 6543 “small and nice”.
The planetary is small, light and with some structures in high
power of my scope. The colour is yellow and its called “The cats
eye”. The central star is clearly seen in moments of steady air
and good seeng. An inner ring was seen round the star with a
darker area inside!
I used crayons (watercolours) on black paper only.
Location: outside Trondheim city, Norway.
More info on my sketch.
Have a clear sky: Per-Jonny Bremseth.

Star Ghost in Puppis

NGC 2440 a planetary nebula in Puppis
Sketch and Details by Bertrand Laville

Hello,

Here is my contribution, concerning NGC 2440.
If you are interested, you can have much more details on my website www.deepsky-drawings.com

x102 Nagler 31mm
The planetary nebula is obvious, hazy, elongated, with a very bright and concentrated central region. Its colour is light blue, not very vivid.
x890 Nagler 3.5mm without filter
890x is the best power, since seeing is very good. PN is relatively tiny; its structure can be precisely detailed.

Regards

Bertrand Laville

Eagle’s Eye

NGC 6804 a Planetary Nebula in Aquila
Sketch and Details by Ferenc Lovró

A faint little planetary discovered by William Herschel. It has a diameter of 1′, even at 71x it does not look like a star, but rather like a large, fuzzy little spot. By increasing the magnification, you may notice a slight elongation in the WSW – ENE direction. By some more careful examination, a slightly brighter central region is visible to the ENE, with a faint star on its edge, which I thought to be the central star. However, as I went on with the sketching, I started to notice an even fainter star in the middle of the brighter core area, first only with averted vision, later on with direct vision too, which I believe is the real central star of this planetary.

Right Ascension: 19h 32m Declination: 9° 15′ Constellation: Aquila Date/time: 2009.08.18 21:00 UT Equipment: 12″ f/5 Newtonian FoV: 14′ Magnification and filter(s): 250x Seeing: 4/10 Transparency: 5/5 Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary Observer: Ferenc Lovró