Category: Nebulae

The Finger of God

The Finger of God

“The Finger of God”, western Veil complex
Sketch and Details by Robert Twarogal (Ignisdei)

Now I want to present a sketch, that was never publicated in internet. A western part of the Veil Complex, known as he Witch’s Broom Nebula, but I rather prefer other, rare used name, ( less formally ) of this extremely beautiful object: The Finger of God.
A veil nebula especially western part of it, is a marvellous conglomerate of fibres frayed matter.
This complex is a large object, so I usually use my lowest-power eyepiece : Swan 40mm witch nebular filter UB in Newton 305mm
I could spend hours in watching this unusual, extraordinary spectacle, which make me out of touch with reality.

Object Name : The Finger of God, NGC 6960 – Western part of Veil Nebula (Ignisdei)
Object Type: Nebulae/emission/reflection
Location: Poland/ Oborniki/suburbia
Date: 29.09.2008 y,
Equipment: Synta 305/1500, UB”, SWAN 2″ 40mm

Sublime and Glorious

M42

The Trapezium and Other Bright Stars of the Orion Nebula
Sketch and Details by Janis Romer

Janis wrote:

January, 1983. Temple University Night Owl, 17 1/2″ Dob. One of those Coulter mirrors*.

You will notice I have not included any of the smaller stars. I was using stars only as reference points for the nebula and simply ignored them. I’ve been tempted to go back and add them in, but decided I liked it better just the way I originally made it, warts and all.

Sketching:
Conte pastel pencils (white, blended greens) on black pastel paper.

*Note: James A. Braginton (Jacobsen), the owner/operator of Coulter Optical (deceased) was the first manufacturer of commercial Dobsonian telescopes. The Odyssey 2 (17.5” f/4.5) debuted in January of 1982. Nearly all of them were made in a small shop in Idyllwild, California. The early ones had well figured mirrors and were very inexpensive. Finished mirror sets were also sold in good numbers. -Frank McCabe

The Veil Revealed

The Veil Nebula

The Veil Nebula, NGC 6995
Sketch and Sketch Details by Robert Twarogal (Ignisdei)

This extraordinarily beautiful sketch of NGC 6995, the Veil nebula, was one of several submitted by Polish amateur astronomer Robert Twarogal (Ignisdei). His detailed yet delicate treatment of this classic emission/reflection nebula is a tribute to his strong observational and artistic talents. We look forward to sharing with you, future postings of Robert’s exceptional entries.

Sketch details:
Object Name : NGC 6995 – Veil Nebula (Ignisdei)
Object Type: Nebulae/emission/reflection
Location: Poland/ Oborniki/suburbia
Date: 31.06.2008 y,
Equipment: Synta 305/1500

A Fall Treat: M-76

M76

Planetary Nebula, M76
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

From my usual backyard observing location in south suburban , the sky glow prevents one from seeing any hints of the Milky Way or even M-31 (the Andromeda galaxy) at culmination without optical aid. Planetary nebula M-76 looks small (2’x1’) and concentrated enough that it is a fairly easy object to locate visually. It responds well to O III and narrow band light pollution filters because like other planetary nebulae it emits radiation at 496 and 501 nanometer wavelengths due to +2 oxygen ions. The 16.6 magnitude central star is too faint to be seen from my location. This nebula is commonly called the little dumbbell or barbell nebula because of its appearance. William Herschel catalogued the two bright end parts under separate numbers. There is a NE-SW orientation to the brightest end parts. No hint of the outer arcs projecting from the corners was visible even with filters and high powered eyepieces. This planetary nebula is located in the constellation of Perseus at R.A. 1hr. 42.4min., Dec. 51°34’. We are looking at this nebula from the side on view. If the 3000-5000 l.y. distance is correct, then M-76 is more than 1.0 l.y. in diameter.

No matter where you are in the northern hemisphere, try hunting for this object with a 4.25 inch (108mm) telescope or larger, you my be surprised at the view.

Sketching:

9”x11” white sketching paper; 2H, HB graphite pencils, black ink pen and a blending stump;
Scanned and inverted; brightness of some stars adjusted with MS Paint.
Scope: 10” f/5.7 Dobsonian: 24 mm wide field eyepiece 60x and 12 mm eyepiece 121x
Date and Time: 11-1-2008, 5:15 – 6:10 UT
Seeing: 6/10
Transparency: Average 3/5
Clear, 90% humidity
Temperature 10°C
NELM: 4.2

North America Nebula

NGC 7000

NGC 7000 – The North America Nebula
Sketch and Details by Juha Ojanperä

Object name: NGC 7000, North America nebula
Object type: Bright nebula
Location: Parainen, Finland
Date: 9/10.10.2008
Instrument: Lens 80mm/400mm (3” lens)
Medium used: Graphite pencils and cottonwool sticks
Observing conditions: Dark, clear sky
Notes: Very large bright nebula. The distinct shape of the nebula is pretty easy to see, after some gazing and with aid of O III filter. In the North America, Mexico and the area around Gulf of Mexico are brightest, though the eastern coast is also considerably bright. The nebula gets fainter to the north and west. The Pelican nebula appeared as faint, nebulous patch a little bit to east from the eastern coast.

The Fetus in Cygnus

NGC 7008

NGC 7008
Sketch and Details by Ferenc Lovró

NGC 7008 (planetary nebula)
Date/time: 2008.09.02 23:00 UT
Equipment: 12″ f/5 Newtonian
FOV: 12′ Mag: 250x
Seeing: 6/10 Transparency: 4/5

A very large planetary nebula in the Cygnus constellation, also known as the Fetus nebula. Its naming perfectly suits its look, which is very conspicuous. It’s an asymmetrical shell with widely varying brightness and an enormously shiny area to the NE. The central star is 13.2 magnitude, easily detectable because it is surrounded by dark areas. To the east, you may notice another star of the similar colour and luminosity. I cannot see any hint of colour throughout the planetary. It’s a nice object even at low powers of around 100x thanks to its relatively high surface brightness, therefore it may be a reachable target for small telescopes too. I’ve tried using my UHC filter, but the results were worse than without it.

Bones of the Veil

NGC 6995

NGC 6995
Sketch by Serge Vieillard

Serge Vieillard used a 60 cm telescope to observe the Veil Nebula on September 2 from Restefond. He notes that his drawing is really a pale reflection the extraordinary sight through the telescope, where the nebula was large, obvious and extremely detailed. Every detail was complex in structure, and evoked the sense of bones in three-dimensional relief. So that he could focus on observing and drawing the nebula, Serge used an astrophoto to generate the star field.