Category: planetary

From Star to Ring

From Star to Ring

M 57 (NGC 6720), The Ring Nebula in Lyra
Sketch and Details by Constantin Psenitchi

Hi!

M 57 (NGC 6720) is one of the most remarkable planetary nebula. M 57 is called the “Ring Nebula” because of its donut shaped appearance. The sketch was made with a graphite pencil on white paper. After this, the sketch was scanned, inverted, and edited with Photoshop CS4.

– Object : M 57(NGC 6720) – Ring Nebula.

– Object type: planetary nebulae.

– Object location: Constellation Lyra.
– Date and Time: 09-16-2009, 00h 11m ( GMT + 3:00).

– Location: near Suceava, Romania.
– Scope: Newtonian f/9.3 , SC 6″ (150mm). Eyepiece: 25mm +2xBarlow.

– Mediums: Graphite pencil on white paper + Photoshop processing.
– Transparency: Clear sky. Low light pollution.

Best regards,

Constantin Psenitchi.

Blinking Swan

Blinking Swan

NGC 6826, “The Blinking Planetary”
Sketch and Details by Tomás Ruiz Lara

Object Name: NGC 6826
Object Type Planetary Nebula
Location Úbeda, Jaén, Spain.
Date 27 – August – 2009

Easy to locate, the reference was the double star 16 Cyg, this nebula is brilliant, pretty and compact. The nucleus is very powerful. An UHC filter enhances the nebula. I perceived the central star. 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: 4/5
Phase of the Moon: Crescent but not visible.

Late Summer Snowball

Late Summer Snowball

NGC 7662, The Blue Snowball, a planetary nebula in Andromeda
Sketch and Details by Oscar Ll. (Nickname: almach)

NGC7662 is one of my favorite planetary nebula for one simple reason: I can see a delicate blue color on it, something unusual in deep sky objects. The sketch was made with a HB2 pencil with a little help of a white snowball cotton… on white paper. After this, inverted, colored the planetary and modified some paremeters with Photoshop Elements.

For the main sketch I used 69x. With this magnification I can see clearly the color. With 250x (the theorical useful magnification limit of my telescope) I can see more detail of its structure, but I “loose” the planetary color.

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

NGC 7662 – The Blue Snowball (planetary nebula)
Date and Time: 2009-09-10, 21h 25m UT
Scope: Celestron Nexstar 5i, SC 5″ (127mm). 18mm (69x) and 5mm (250x) eyepieces
White paper, HB2 graphite pencil, and scanned and inverted with Photoshop
Seeing: 4/5 (5 the best)
Transparency: Some clouds. Moderate light pollution.
Location Constellation: Andromeda
Position: R.A. 23 h 26 min
Dec. +42° 33?

Thank you and best regards.

Oscar

Ghost of a Blue Saturn

Ghost of a Blue Saturn

NGC 7009, The Saturn Nebula in Aquarius
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Saturn Nebula NGC 7009

This planetary nebula was one of the first “nebulae” seen and recorded by William Herschel during the summer of 1782. Since my skies are loaded with sky glow, it is not possible to see the ansae (handles) at the ends of the long axis of this beautiful bluish planetary nebula. With the ansae visible this planetary nebula very much resembles a blue version of the planet Saturn with its rings edge on. At high magnification the white dwarf central star is easily detectable with 18” of aperture although the view is much better under dark transparent skies.

Sketching:

NGC 7009 Saturn Nebula (planetary)
Date and Time: 8-25-2009, 4:15 4:50 UT
Scope: 18” f/5 Dobsonian. 24 mm eyepiece 95x
8”x12” white sketching paper, 2H, HB, graphite pencils, light brown color pencil,
blending stump, scanned and inverted
Seeing: 7/10
Transparency: Average 3/5
Faintest stars visible overhead 4.3
Temperature: 20°C (68°F)
Nebula magnitude: 8.0, Central star 11.5
Distance: 2000-4000 ly
Location Constellation: Aquarius
Position: R.A. 21 hrs 4 min
Dec. -11° 22′

Frank McCabe

Eye of the Giraffe

Eye of the Giraffe

NGC 1501, a planetary nebula in Camelopardalis
Sketch and Details by Przemysław Horoszkiewicz

Sketch information:

Obiect name: NGC 1501
Scope: Sky Watcher 10″.
Eyepieces: LVW 8 (150x) + UHC-Lumicon
Place: Poland, Zielona Góra (A few kilometers from city).
Seeing: 9/10 !!
Date: 25.12.2008r
Technique:Pencil,graphics GIMP2.
Amateur astronomer: Przemysław Horoszkiewicz (Poland).

Where is the Clown?

Where is the Clown?

NGC 2392, “The Clown” or “Eskimo” Nebula in Gemini
Sketch and Details by Per-Jonny Bremseth

Hey!

I send you, “Where is the clown?”.
Well, I understand that my scope perhaps is to small to see
a clown out there, so I found out that the real clown was looking
from the other end of the telescope tube!!
I used crayons (watercolours) on black paper only.
The atmospheric quality and seeng was moderate.
The observation was made outside Trondheim city, Norway.
More info on my drawing!

Best wishes from Per-Jonny Bremseth.

A Little Dumbbell or a Cork?

M76

M76, NGC 650 Planetary nebula
Sketch and Details by Przemysław Horoszkiewicz

Hello 😉

Sketch information:
Obiect name: Messier 76 (NGC 650).
Scope: Sky Watcher 10”.
Eyepieces: Super Plossl 10 mm.
Place: Poland, Zielona Góra (A few kilometers for city).
Seeing: 4/5.
Date: 14.07.2009r.
Technique:Pencil,graphics GIMP2.
Amateur astronomer: Przemysław Horoszkiewicz (Poland).

Blue Flash of the Dolphin

Blue Flash Nebula

NGC 6905, Planetary nebula in Delphinus
Sketch and Details by Michael Vlasov

blue flash sketch.jpg
Object Name: NGC 6905 – blue flash nebula
Object Type planetary nebula
Location Negev Desert, Israel
Date 29/8/2008

NGC 6905 is a tiny 12m planetary nebula in Delphinus, named a “Blue Flash Nebula” (probably due to it’s blueish color) and it lies 4700 light years from us.
The nebula resembles a little stellar coffee grain, hidden between the stars. It can be quite a challenge to find, unless moderate aperture and dark skies are avaliable. However, especially at high powers, the look is quite rewarding.
Observation and sketch details: The observation took place in Negev desert (Israel), at a local starparty. Sky conditions were excellent (~6.5m stars could be observed). The sketch was made using 8″ Orion equatorial Newtonian, at 250x power, Graphite pencil and a red light. Then the sketch was scanned and inverted in Photoshop.

Michael Vlasov