NGC 362 in Tucana

NGC 362, a globular star cluster in the constellation Tucana
NGC 362, a globular star cluster in the constellation Tucana

Object Name: NGC 362.
Object Type: Globular Cluster.
Location: Malabrigo, Santa Fe, Argentina.
Date: Friday December 19, 2014, 22:00 hs
Media: White paper, pencil HB and GIMP to invert colors and make minor tweaks.
Equipment used for the drawing: Dobson SkyWatcher 12″ (305 mm).
Power: 70x, with Baader Hyperion 21 mm.

Claudio Vidolini
Foro “Espacio Profundo”
Malabrigo, Santa Fe, Argentina.

NGC 2808

NGC 2808, a globular star cluster in the constellation Carina
NGC 2808, a globular star cluster in the constellation Carina

Object Name: NGC 2808.
Object Type: Globular Cluster.
Location: San Miguel, Buenos Aires Argentina.
Conditions: Good transparency, bad seeing.
Date: 19/12/14.
Media: 2B, 2H, blend stump and PS. Averted vision.
Telescope: Meade LB 12″ on equatorial tracking platform.
Eyepiece: Plössl 10mm (x152) .
First glob, very tricky!

Difficult Uranus

The Planet Uranus and its moons, Oberon, Ariel, and Titania December 11, 2014
The Planet Uranus and its moons, Oberon, Ariel, and Titania December 11, 2014
Uranus and it's moons, Oberon, Ariel, and Titania - December 11, 2014
Uranus and it’s moons, Oberon, Ariel, and Titania – December 11, 2014

Object Name (Uranus with moons)
Object Type (Planet and satellites)
Location : Observatoire Astronomique de Bauduen, Provence France
Date 2014 Dec 11th
Media (graphite pencil, and inverted watercolor on white paper, Paint.net for the inversion)
That’s maybe because I like to use this great telescope, or it’s because I like challenges but,… it’s certainly not the best optical combination for this observation.
On 11 December, I finally found a corner of pure sky above the 24-inch reflector made by Olivier Planchon. To observe Uranus, the speed is definitely too high: f / 3.3 d, so we had to use very short focal EP to reach the useful magnification (Nagler 3.7 and 2.5) !.
If you look at my watercolor you can see a somewhat elongated comet hair that diffuse around the planet, that’s exactly how we see the planet area in the field, this is probably linked to a not 100% perfect collimation, but still. I get the impression that the work of collimation facing these big tubes, it is not a piece of cake.
Anyway, we can say two things:
1- We observed three of the Uranus satellites: Oberon, Titania and Ariel, this last one being a bit lost in the lights of the planet
2- the disk of the planet was not uniform as seen in a small telescope or some photos. It’s very difficult to confirm, but a diffuse zone clearer was observed in the upper atmosphere of Uranus, is that an artifact, I do not know? Anyway the main direction of the area is not in the direction of the cloud bands of Uranus.

Another composition of this observation is given here: http://astro.aquarellia.com/croquis/uranus_page_h.jpg

Near Orion-NGC 1980-1981

NGC 1981, a young star cluster with nebulosity in the constellation Orion
NGC 1981, a young star cluster with nebulosity in the constellation Orion
NGC 1980, a small open cluster with nebulosity near M42 in the constellation Orion
NGC 1980, a small open cluster with nebulosity near M42 in the constellation Orion

Object Name : NGC 1980-1981
Object Type Nebula
Location: Argentina-Provincia de Buenos Aires-Monasterio
Date: 13/12/2014
Media graphite pencil, white paper, digital tools.
All observations be performed with a motorized telescope Eq2 130-900 refelctor and eyepieces BST 12MM (75x).
Seeing 7/10.
The region where the Great Nebula in Orion is accompanied by these two objects that sometimes is a little lost in the majesty of M42. in these drawings I wanted to highlight the stars reflecting part of the nebulosity of these young clusters

Español:
Todas las observaciones ser realizaron con un telescopio 130-900 Eq2 motorizado con oculares BST 12 MM (75x).
Seeing 7/10.
La región donde se encuentra la Gran Nebulosa de Orion esta acompañada por estos dos objetos que a veces queda un poco perdido por la majestuosidad de M42. en estos dibujos quise remarcar las estrellas que reflejan parte de la nebulosidad de dichos jóvenes cúmulos

Sebastian Castagna
Estación Vientos del Sur

NGC 3372 The Keyhole Nebula

NGC 3372,"The Carina Nebula" aka "The Great Nebula in Carina" and the "Keyhole Nebula" portion of this complex emission, reflection and dark nebula.
NGC 3372,”The Carina Nebula” aka “The Great Nebula in Carina” and the “Keyhole Nebula” portion of this complex emission, reflection and dark nebula.

Hi,

The constellation Carina alone makes it worthwhile travelling to Southern Africa – and the Carina Nebula NGC 3372 is the heart of it – especially for visual observing. NGC 3372 is studded with bright and even dark nebulae. The most impressive to me is a combination of “light & shadow” – the Keyhole Nebula (the famous “eta carina” is the bright star at lower left).

Data:
Object Name: Keyhole Nebula (in NGC 3372)
Object type: Galactic Nebula
Location: Hakos Guestfarm, Namib Naukluft, Namibia
Date: June 1st & 2nd, 2014 (about 3 hours total of sketching)
Media: Pastel and graphite pencils
Optics: 24” Dobson f 4.0, 300x
No filter

Additional aspects:
Field is about 12 x 15’ wide, north is up. To concentrate on object (and not on dimensions) I used a pattern of stars printed from Guide 9 as a template. Pinpoint stars added by image processing software (to replace printed and sketched stars)

More sketches:

http://www.astrosketching.com

Clear Skies!
Rainer

C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy

Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) - December 18, 2014
Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) – December 18, 2014

Object: C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy
Object type: Comet
Location: Panama city, Republic of Panama (Central America)
Date: December 18 , 2014
Media: graphite pencil , white paper and Microsoft Paint to invert colors.
Telescope: Orion XT6i
Ocular: 17mm
Hard to see in the skies with light pollution in the city of Panama …. but we draw the sketch.

clear skies,

Ricardo Schwarz

The Witch Head Nebula

IC 2118 aka NGC 1909, "The Witch Head Nebula", a large reflection nebula in the constellation Eridanus
IC 2118 aka NGC 1909, “The Witch Head Nebula”, a large reflection nebula in the constellation Eridanus

Winter arrives, and with it, all the Orion wide field.
Therefore, it’s time for me to propose a drawing of an elusive object of that region: Witch’s Head Nebula, IC 2118.

This observation spent on 3 nights, for an amount of a bit more of 6 hours !
Here are my observing notes:

IC 2118, aka NGC 1909
dates of observation: 8, 9, & 13 02 2013
site: Observatoire des Baronnies Provençales, southern french Alps (www.obs-bp.com)

observing conditions: naked eye visual magnitude 6.6 on UMi, SQML 21.50 to 21.57 at zenith
Instrument: Dobson Obsession 25” (635mm)
power: 100x, with Nagler 31mm and CLS filter.
Drawing with Paintshop Pro 7.

You can have a detailed report at: http://www.deepsky-drawings.com/ic-2118/dsdlang/fr

Clear skies for all of you !

Bertrand
from Marseille, France

Gassendi, Rimae Mersenius and Rupes Liebig at the terminator

Mare Humorum including Gassendi, Rimae Mersenius and Rupes Liebig at the terminator - December 2, 2014
Mare Humorum including Gassendi, Rimae Mersenius and Rupes Liebig at the terminator – December 2, 2014
Gassendi, Rimae Mersenius and Rupes Liebig at the terminator labeled
Gassendi, Rimae Mersenius and Rupes Liebig at the terminator labeled

Aloha!

This was one of those nights things just fall together. Excellent seeing and light enough from the Moon that I could see the paper well. After finishing my sketch at the eyepiece I went inside to clean it up and was pleasantly surprised that I liked it pretty much the way it was.

110km wide Gassendi Crater showed some excellent roughened floor details with hummocks casting shadows as well as floor rilles illuminated as bright & dark lines. Rima Mersenius is brilliantly lit on the terminator and the bright scarp of Rupes Liebig can be seen at the base of the wall.

Gassendi Crater, Mersenius Rille, Rupes Liebig, Mare Humorum @11.7 days lunation
.12/2/14 2030-2140 HST
12.5″ Portaball, 227x
Canson Black paper and white and black Conte’ Crayon, white charcoal pencil
Photoscape to adjust contrast

Cindy (Thia) Krach
Haleakala Amateur Astronomers
Maui, Hawaii