Nebulae – Page 45 – Astronomy Sketch of the Day

A Fine Reflection

NGC 7023 or Caldwell 4
By Rony De Laet

Here is an observation of an interesting nebula (aka Caldwell 4) in Cepheus. A nebula filter is of no help at all (and I tried ) because it’s a reflection nebula. I once was quite happy with the Baader Contrast Booster on this object, but this night no filter was able to enhance the view. The object was near zenith during the observation. The nebula kind of grows in the eye of the observer. First I see a halo around the central star (HD200775). Then with patience comes a bar of light running from N to S through the star. With a lot more patience and wiggling the scope, the nebula grows larger and reminds me of a face on galaxy with knots of nebulosity and dark lanes cutting the disk. A faint star is visible in the N part of the nebula.

Date : October 17, 2007
Time : 20.30UT
Scope : Skywatcher 102/500
Vixen LV Zoom at 8mm
Power : x63
FOV: 48′
Filter : None
Seeing : 3.5/5
Transp. : 3/5
Nelm : 5.3
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch

Thor’s Helmet

Thor’s Helmet, NGC 2359
By Rony De Laet

The plan for the evening was to observe and sketch Messier 50. I was trying to starhop from Sirius to M50. Gamma Canis Majoris would be an easy reference in between. From there, M50 could be found a mere five degrees North. Instead of using the finder, I love to pan the scope with a low power eyepiece. Much to my surprise, the milkyway (so near to the horizon) was clearly visible in the eyepiece. The area East of Sirius appeared to be very fascinating. While working my way up to M50, I stumbled upon an unexpected fuzzy object. Most open cluster appear fuzzy at low power, but this one was different. I tried a higher power to resolve the object, but without result. There aren’t that much nebulae around, visible with my small aperture, so I guessed it had to be Thor’s Helmet, NGC 2359 ! How exciting! Bad news for M50, which would have to wait for another occasion. Armed with a UHC filter, I started to sketch the nebula. It took me quit a while to understand the view my eyes were showing. At first I saw a bar, or no, a hook. Then with a lot of patience, the hook resolved into a more complex structure. The observation was very rewarding, and I hope to revisit the object under a darker sky soon. Here’s the sketch.

Date : February 9, 2008
Time : around 22.00UT
Scope : Skywatcher 102/500
Eyepiece : Plössl 15 mm
Power : x33
FOV: 90′
Filter : UHC
Seeing : 2,5/5
Transp. : 2,5/5
Nelm : 4,8
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch.

The Ghost of Alnitak

NGC 2024, The Ghost of Alnitak
By Rony De Laet

Hello,

We’ve had a full week of clear nights! So every night, after work and family, I tried to capture some DSO targets. This one is a little bit of a special object because I drove to a darker site some 130km from home to sketch it. I’ve glimpsed NGC 2024 at home before, but it always remained a uncertain view. The most annoying thing is the bright presence of Alnitak. I tried to keep Alnitak out of the way, but it didn’t work. Otherwise, NGC2024 would not be such a tough target. More to the south is also the weak glow of NGC2023. So here is my sketch, from the highest point of Belgium : a whopping 690m asl. There was still sufficient oxygen in the air to breath

Date : February 12, 2008
Time : around 22.00UT
Scope : Skywatcher 102/500
Eyepiece : 15mm Plösll
Power : x33
FOV: 90′
Filter : UHC
Seeing : 3/5
Transp. : 4/5
Nelm : 5,8
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch.

Two Views of the Spider

The Tarantula Nebula, NGC 2070 wide field view
By Eiji Kato

NGC 2070, The Tarantula Nebula

Eiji Kato has captured these two marvelous views of the NGC 2070, the Tarantula Nebula in the southern hemispheric constellation of Dorado, the Dolphin fish, Xiphias, or the Swordfish. This immense region contains stars forming in their nascent cacoons of gas and dust. Previous stellar death is rampant here as well, remnants of their past existence, shells of excited gas, glow amidst strong interstellar winds. Mr Kato’s beautiful sketches show two perspectives, one a wider field view and the other near center. Most of Mr Kato’s exceptional drawings were made using an 18.5″, f/4 reflector. Some later drawings were made with a 18.1″, f/4.5 reflector.

The Tarantula Nebula, NGC 2070 near center view
By Eiji Kato

Eiji Kato lives in Australia and operates the TwinStar Guesthouse Observatory.
Please make a visit to his gallery of fine drawings.

Hands to Claim Unbounded Night

The Great Orion Nebula, M42 and M43
By Serge Vieillard

This color drawing of the Great Orion Nebula was created by Serge
Vieillard during a trip to the Libyan desert to view the Solar
Eclipse of March 2006. Serge created this colored pencil drawing as a
negative on white paper and inverted it after scanning to create the
positive image seen here. In order to get the colors correct for this
inverted image, he did extensive testing beforehand so he had the
correct complimentary colors in his sketching supplies (an orange
pencil for the blue-green hues, and a green pencil for the rose
colored areas). Serge spent two hours illustrating this magnificent
nebula. He notes that two hours was not nearly enough to sufficiently
capture all of the fine detail visible.

In Search of IC 1318

The Gamma Cygni Starfield
By Rony De Laet

The Gamma Cygni Starfield, in search of IC 1318

Here is a sketch of a crowded milky way starfield. I waited for Gamma Cyngi to reach zenith, in an attempt to glimpse IC1318. I did not know what to expect and centered on Gamma Cygni. I was worried about the amount of stars that would be visible within the field of view. The UHC filter helped in reducing the number of faint stars to be drawn. I spent almost two hours behind the eyepiece. So here is my impression. I don’t know if I succeeded in observing IC 1318, I just represented the luminosity observed with the UHC filter.

Date : October 14, 2007
Time : 21.00UT
Scope : Skywatcher 102/500
TV Plössl 32mm
Power : x16
FOV: 192′
Filter : Lumicon UHC
Seeing : 3.5/5
Transp. : 3/5
Nelm : 5.2
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch.

Spiritual Sky

IC 1848, The Soul Nebula
By Rony De Laet

IC 1848 : The Soul Nebula

While sweeping the scope through the Heart & Soul region, my retina pics up lots of brightness variations of the sky background. A rather bright region is defined as IC 1848 : the combined glow of unresolved stars and patches of an emission nebula. The view is best appreciated without a filter under dark skies. Under not so dark skies, an UHC filter is of great help. The backdraw is a loss of delicate starglow. Here is my impression, made with an UHC filter under a mag 5.7 sky.

Date : December 27, 2007
Time : around 18.00UT
Scope : Skywatcher 102/500
Eyepiece : Meade SP 26mm
Power : x20
FOV: 150′
Filter : Lumicon UHC
Seeing : 4/5
Transp. : 4/5
Nelm : 5.7
Elevation : 800m ASL
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch.

Partial View of the Heart

A partial view of the Heart Nebula, IC 1805
By Rony De Laet

While IC 1848 appears as a distinct glow in the eye-piece, IC 1805 is a more difficult object to frame. IC 1805 is too large for my lowest power eye-piece. And the background is filled with starglow, competing with the subtle glow of the nebulosity of IC 1805. It’s hard to tell where the nebula dominates the glow. I decided to center the Northern part of IC in the EP. Why? Because I found the starfield with NGC 1027 an attractive area. NGC 896 just fell on the border of of my fov. Therefore it remained invisible to my eye. It occurs to me that I should return my gaze to this interesting piece of sky to capture the Southern part of IC 1805. Funny thing is that I reconned that my little scope would provide plenty of fov for large objects. And then I ran into an object like IC 1805. Maybe some bino’s might fill in the task in the future. Here is the sketch. (I must point out that not all the ‘glow’ represented in the sketch has a nebulous origin.)

Date : January 2, 2008
Time : around 21.00UT
Scope : Skywatcher 102/500
Eyepiece : Meade SP 26mm
Power : x20
FOV: 150′
Filter : Lumicon UHC
Seeing : 3/5
Transp. : 3/5
Nelm : 4.9 with moments of 5.2
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch.

Stellar Reflection

M78, a reflection nebula in Orion
By Wade V. Corbei

After trying more than once, I finally was able to get a good night of dark skies and good seeing in order to observe M78, a Reflection Nebula in Orion last month.

Although fairly unspectacular overall, there is a rich starfield that helped in enhancing the overall view of this nebula through the EP. I did notice, with averted vision, that quite a few of the stars that surround this nebula contained some color…from slight blueish-white to a rusty orange/red. The colors, although slight, add a nice contrast in the EP FOV.

A Winter Trip to California

NGC 1499, The California Nebula
By Rony De Laet

Hello all,

Another challenging object suggested by Sue French is the California Nebula. The object has been imaged very often, mostly with an H-Alpha filter. I tried several times from within my backyard to locate NGC1499 visually with my four inch scope. With the H-Alpha images in mind, I expected to see an obvious streak of light in the eyepiece. Of course, my nelm 5.2 sky did not offer me such a view. At home, I suspected some nebulosity North of Xi Persei. I wondered what the Alpine sky would reveil of NGC 1499. My findings were at first dissapointing. I saw the same nebulosity as from my backyard, only did it show up more obvious. The way NGC 1499 appears to me visually would not inspire me to call it a California shape. Nevertheless is NGC 1499 a very interesting object for the patient observer. I estimated the Nelm in Austria (Bisschofshofen) that night around mag 5.7. A better sky would offer a more detailed view for sure. Here is my impression.

Date : December 27, 2007
Time : around 17.30UT
Scope : Skywatcher 102/500
Eyepiece : Meade SP 26mm
Power : x20
FOV: 150′
Filter : Lumicon UHC
Seeing : 4/5
Transp. : 4/5
Nelm : 5.7
Elevation : 800m ASL
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with PhotoPaint, based on a raw pencil sketch.