Spring’s Trio, “The Leo Triplet”, galaxies M65, M66 and NGC 3628
It is spring’s trio.
The dark lane in the 3628 is really fantastic!
Before this sketch, I always confused M65 and M66.
But now I can classify 65 & 66.
Sketch is magical tool in the visual astronomy. 🙂
Object Name : Leo triple
Object Type : Galaxies
Location : S. Korea
Date : Nov. 11, 2013
Equipment : Discovery 15″ Dob
Media : Black paper, Jelly pen, Pastel pencil
The multiple (triple) star system, Beta Monocerotis
Hi Asod! Last night I observed Beta Monocerotis, which is called the most beautiful multiple star of our skies. I also loved it, so I decided to sketch the star with my dobsonian telescope 10” f/5. Seeing was not bad, so with 250x I could note easily all the components; but colours were not simple to note, all of them seem to me white, bluish and greenish…
Wonderful star!
A pair of big binos are certainly complementary to a telescope and you’d be amazed at what they can reveal under a decent sky. Here’s how I saw the eastern Veil through my Nexus 100 binos under my Italian mountain sky, using a couple of 21mm Siebert Ultrawide eyepieces and a pair of UHC filters. According to my experience even a C8 would have a difficult time matching this, although obviously at only 24x the magnification was a lot lower. The field of view was cut slightly more than you’d expect with 80° eyepieces because it took me already about an hour and a half putting all this on paper (pencil on white paper) and given the very short eye relief of these eyepieces it was too tiring trying to scan the outer edges of the FOV every time. Well, I hope you like it…
July 4-8, 2014 – Conjunction of Moon with Mars, Saturn and SpicaJuly 4-8, 2014 – Conjunction of the Moon, Mars, Saturn and Spica
* Object Name (Moon, Mars, Saturn)
* Object Type (Conjunctions)
* Location (Artignosc-sur-Verdon – Provence – France)
* Date (2014 from 4 to 8 July)
* Media (Watercolour, white paper, paint.net to invert the result)
From July 4 to 8 Moon played with planets. From a purely astronomical point of view the Moon showed us some beautiful conjunctions, Mars, Spica and then Saturn. By the way the game was a little complicated with the clouds. What a season!
On July 5, the moon was still visible behind heavy clouds. The next day, I have not even been able to detect the moon light ! I had to invent the sky. July 7, when the Moon approaches Saturn, clouds returned to disturb the magic of the moment. I’m a bit fed-up about this weather, and I think not being alone!
The advantage of astro-artist on the astro-photographer is that we can complete our design. This time I have to add the missing lunar position on the view. And to capture those irritating clouds, I painted a hazy wash around the Moon as was the case on July 5.
The small hilltop village that served as a foreground is called Artignosc-sur-Verdon. I confess to being quite happy by this view. Artignosc is just halfway to two now well-known astro-spots “The Blaque” in Varages and the OAB in Bauduen. And ‘cause we are nevertheless in Provence, believe me above the clouds the sky is very dark!
Still … what a season!
To do this watercolour, I went out on my terrace at ten PM every night, sometimes before the storm, sometimes after and once during, being passionate or you do not. Every time I sketched some sketches in a hurry, and took two or three pictures allow me to keep the shades. At the workshop, I started by gathering the different positions of the stars and their locations relative to the village. In less than a week, only the Lunar race was noteworthy, Mars and Saturn are much quieter than the stars. Then I realized in reverse mode (colors and contrast) this watercolour. I just had to scan my sheet and reverse the colors.
