Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy

Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy - December 4, 2013
Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy – December 4, 2013

Hi Asod! Last night I woke up at 5.00am to observe Comet Lovejoy. I couldn’t see it with naked eye (I think because I observed from city), but it was very bright! I observed it at 90x and 42x and this was the best magnification; nucleus was very compact and more bright than tail. It’s the first comet I’ve ever seen, just wonderful!

Object Name: C/2013 R1 Lovejoy
Object Type: Comet
Location: Copertino (LE), Italy
Date: 4/12/2013
Media: Pencil on White Paper; inverted by Computer

Sunspot 2192

Sunspot group 2192 - October 21, 2014
Sunspot group 2192 – October 21, 2014

Sunspot 2192
Sunspot group
Observed from Teulon Manitoba Canada
10:-11 CDT (15:00-16:00 UTC) Oct 21 2014
Graphite pencil and ink pen on white paper. Tinting added digitally to mimic the filter colour.
Observed this giant complex in visible light at 32x through Apogee RA 88 b

The Crescent Nebula

NGC 6888, "The Crescent Nebula", an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus
NGC 6888, “The Crescent Nebula”, an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus

Object Name: NGC 6888(Crescent Nebula)
Object Type: Wolf-Rayet Nebula
Location: Bercedo, Burgos (Spain)
Date: 17/10/2014
Media: Graphite pencil, white paper, scanned and inverted with paint.
Equipment: Dobson 8″ + 25mm plössl (48x) + OIII Filter
Sky Conditions: windy, regular/bad seeing, no light pollution

Notes:While I manage to not fall over the telescope because of the gusty wind, I try to sketch that nebula. It shows really faint at the eyepiece field and without the OIII filter is barely visible. The nebula has an elliptical form (I would say it is like a potato) and I can discern the NW nebula’s elliptic edge (supposing that the North and East are 12 o’clock and 3 o’clock respectively at the eyepiece field’s edge) and the nebula’s interior is dark.

Best Regards

The Aristarchus Plateau

The Aristarchus Plateau, the lunar crater Aristarchus and environs - October 5, 2014
The Aristarchus Plateau, the lunar crater Aristarchus and environs – October 5, 2014

The Aristarchus Plateau, the lunar crater Aristarchus and environs – October 5, 2014[/caption]The Aristarchus plateau is one of the biggest and most spectacular volcanic regions in the Moon. With good seeing and the Moon high above the horizon, the region was impressive on October 5th, when it was near the terminator. Vallis Schröteri, the giantic lava channel meanders through the plateau starting from the famous Cobra Head vent, which is now mostly under shadow. The Aristarchus crater has a very bright wall with two dark bands; and to its north, Rupes Toscanelli stands out nicely. Finally, to the south of the plateau, the Herodotus Omega dome is easy to see, thanks to the oblique illumination.

Sketch: 2HB graphite pencil on white paper, scanned and processed with Photoshop CS3
Object Name: The Aristarchus Plateau
Location: Asturias, Spain
Date: October 5th, 2014 21:30-22:30 UT
Instrument: 120mm f/8.3 refractor + Barlow 2x + UWA 6,7mm (300x)
Observing report (in Spanish): https://sites.google.com/site/astrodgonzalez/observaciones/201410-aristarco
Best regards,
Diego González

Triple and Double Stars

Struve 2816, a triple star system and Struve 2819, a double star in the constellation Cepheus
Struve 2816, a triple star system and Struve 2819, a double star in the constellation Cepheus

Hi Asod! My sketch is about a triple and a double stars, in the same field. The triple is STRUVE 2816 and the double STRUVE 2819 and they are both part of the wide open cluster “Trumpler 37″ in Cepheus. I observed the two multiple systems with my Dobson 10” f/5 with a 14mm eyepiece, 82° for a 180x magnification. The observation is great!

Object Name: STRUVE 2816 and STRUVE 2819
Object Type: Triple star, Double star
Location: Copertino (LE), ITALY
Date: 23:40, 19-10-2014 (Local)
Media: India Ink on white paper, inverted

The Cat’s Eye Nebulae

NGC 6543, "The Cat's Eye Nebula", a planetary nebula in the constellation Draco
NGC 6543, “The Cat’s Eye Nebula”, a planetary nebula in the constellation Draco

• Object Name (NGC 6543)
• Object Type (Planetary nebulae)
• Location (OAB – Bauduen – Verdon – France)
• Date (October 16th 2014)
• Media (graphite pencil, watercolour, white paper, inverted via Paint.net)

To obtain this sketch I use the following optical combinations via the 24” f/d 3.3 on equ. mount of the OAB (Observatoire Astronomique de Bauduen)
An OIII filter to obtain better contrasts. Under a magnification of 240X and the OIII filter the nebulae center darkening is clearly visible.
With the same magnification but without the filter we can easily see the central star with direct vision; anyway we are a little dazzled by the close light of the nebula.
With a magnification of 120X we can observe the structure of one or two of the outer rings.
A 550x magnification allowed me to discern one of the two jets that extend the basic ellipse.

http://astro.aquarellia.com/

Michel Deconinck

M27 – The Dumbbell Nebula

M27, "The Dumbbell Nebula", a planetary nebula located in the constellation Vulpecula
M27, “The Dumbbell Nebula”, a planetary nebula located in the constellation Vulpecula

Object name: M27, The Dumbbell Nebula
Object type: Planetary Nebula
Instrument: 6″ Newtonian reflector, 6 mm eyepiece, UHC filter
Location: Gladbeck, Ruhr area, Germany
Date: July 19, 2014
conditions: 23 °C / 73 °F, clear and calm, fst = 5,2 mag
Media: graphite pencil (4B) on white paper, graphite powder and cotton swab, inverted and edited with GIMP 2.8
Clear skies,
Michael
www.sternsucher.com

Spiraling Prom

Solar prominences including a spiraling prominence - October 12, 2014
Solar prominences including a spiraling prominence – October 12, 2014

Aloha!

Todays Sun was bursting with excitement along the eastern limb. The more northern triple arch was very bright and dense in appearance. There was some activity near the equator that as I watched began to develop a bright spike. Then to the south, so beautiful and delicate in appearance, a spiral shape twisting off the limb. This was very exciting to sketch and time was spent creating and erasing to get it just right, trying to capture the spiraling effect.

I have been trying different techniques to capture the Sun recently. Graphite pencil on white paper is my current favorite method to get the smallest details my eye can see. A brush with charcoal was used to get the mottled surface of the solar disc.

Modeling after Erika Rix, I added a Tilting Sun graphic to show where the 2 major prominences were located on the solar disc.

Cindy (Thia) Krach

Solar Prominences
10/12/14 0900-0950 HST
Lunt 60mm PT
35x-83x
White paper and graphite pencil
Inverted & colorized in Photoscape
Tilting Sun software

Maui, HI