02_Media – Page 41 – Astronomy Sketch of the Day

M51 through a 4 Inch Refractor

M51

Galaxy

Spain

March 2014

White paper/pencil + Photoshop

Telescope: Astro-Physics Traveler EDF 105mm F/5.8

Eyepieces: Televue Ethos 10mm, Pentax XO 5mm

Transparency: 3/5, 21.2 SQM

Seeing: 2/5

Mars White Cloud

* Object Name: Mars
* Object Type: planet
* Location: La Fontasse (Tarn – France) N43.63 E2.35
* Date: April 6th 2014 21h40 UT
* Media: pencil HB + 2B, white drawing paper, scanned + colorized with PhotoPaint

As shown on the detailed view, I experimented the negative drawing with black pencil.
Just by inverting the image, I obtain quite the final result.
I just played with colour and contrast to make it “real”.
Next time I will try to make a negative drawing with blue pencil, to get directly the salmon colour of Mars…

NOTE : The pink colour is real, because of the lunar filter which adds a bluish-grayed hint
This filter provides more contrast and reduces the light intensity.

Conditions: humidity 60%, 12°C, no wind.
Equipment:
– Dobson Orion XT12 (305 x 1500mm => F/D 5)
– Eyepiece Televue Delos 4.5mm (mag x 330)
– Moon filter 1.25″

Excellent transparency and very good seing
Half Moon shining in Gemini

Because of the moonlight, the star party was dedicated to planetary observation.
So I decided to make my first sketch of Mars, as I only once could really see it with details last year.

For the first time I could distinctly see two dark zones : one butterfly shaped (right) and one banana shaped (left)
The sky was good enough to expect to see the north polar ice cap.
I actually saw a scattered brighter spot on the upper part of the disk.
As you never know the orientation of an object in your eyepiece, I decided this was the north pole ice cap of Mars.

Back home, while looking for the name of the dark zones (Acidalia Planitia & Meridiani Planum), I discovered that the north pole was on the right side of the disk.
So, what was this white spot ???
I found the explanation from a recent photo of Mars, on spaceweathergallery.com, showing a white cloud storm, in the same area.

This is how I discovered my new speciality: meteorologist of Mars ! 🙂

Thanks for your interest.
Jean-Marc Saliou
APAM astro club – France

Rigel

Rome 15/02/2014

double Star

Refractor 102/1000 Sw

digital

Roma 15.02.2014

Stella doppia

Rifrattore 102/1000 Sw

Digitale

An urban Ghost of Jupiter (NGC 3242)

The Ghost of Jupiter (NGC 3242) Planetary Nebula

•Object Name: Ghost of Jupiter (NGC 3242).
•Object Type: Planetary Nebula.

•Location: San Miguel, Buenos Aires Argentina.

•Conditions: NELM 4.5. Good transparency, bad seeing.

•Date: 23/03/2014 11:00pm.

•Media: HB, 2B, blend stump and PS for color. Averted vision.

•Telescope: Meade LB 12″ on equatorial tracking platform.
•Eyepiece: SW TMB II 6mm and sometimes TV UHC filter.

Hi ASOD! This time I bring you all the Ghost of Jupiter from my backyard. It was a good night except for the poor seeing conditions. Some of the stars are down to mag 13-14 and the nebula, with averted vision, was excellent showing internal details at x254. Days later, at a star party, I could appreciate the full glory of nebula, the central star was like a pin and incredible details were easily seen at x254-x400 (no sketch, sorry!). Hope you like it!

Best regards, Leo.

Copernicus

This is my first ASOD and my first sketch of a moon crater.

Object Name: Copernicus Crater

Object Type: Lunar Crater

Location: Lisbon, Portugal (38º 44′ N 9º 30′ W)

Date: 10-03-2014

Media: graphite pencil

Equipment: ED doublet refractor, 80/720mm, (3.15″) F9; EP 6mm OR, 120x.

It was an exceptional night without wavering at this magnification, so I took a shot at it.

Clear skies

Bernardo Andrade

NGC 2516

Hello. I send a new drawing.

Object Name: NGC 2516

Object Type: Open Cluster

Location: Pergamino, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Date: 03/22/2014

Media: I used an A4 sheet and pencils 2B, B, H and HB. The image was then inverted and colored with Adobe Photoshop.

Crew: F900114 Helios Reflector Telescope

Ocular: 25mm Huygens

Greetings!

Hola. Evío un nuevo dibujo.

Nombre del objeto: NGC 2516

Tipo de objeto: Cúmulo Abierto

Ubicación: Pergamino, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Fecha: 22/03/2014

Medios: Utilicé una hoja A4 y lápices 2B, B, H y HB. La imagen fue posteriormente invertida y coloreada con Adobe Photoshop.

Equipo: Telescopio reflector Helios F900114

Ocular: Huygens 25mm

Saludos!

SN 2014J in M82

Hello,

Two and a half hours of clear sky at 04.February 2014 were sufficient to hold the SN in M82 and take a long walk on the winter night sky.

After a tough cloud cover and then the mist had dissolved about 21:00 clock, I could start the observation with the TMB 115/805 Apo.

The supernova was a really great thing! Very bright and striking beamed the SN in the “cigar”. After a brief enjoyment, I started with the sketch!
Unfortunately, the review was only mediocre, so blurred finer structures of the galaxy almost. Nice to see was the interruption in M 82 and south two light specks.

CS Uwe

Object: Galaxy M82

Object Name: SN 2014J

Telescope: 115/805 TMB

Eyepiece: 6mm Baader Genuine Ortho

Magnification: about 110x

Location: near Tauberbischofsheim Germany

Lunar Terminator Near to the Western Limb

LunarTerminator West Limb-February 25, 2013

Lunar Terminator Near to the Western Limb

On Sunday evening I was getting a wonderful view of the lunar terminator near the western limb just a half day before full Moon. The favorable longitudinal libration of -04° 40’ was creating an opportunity to see craters along the terminator that are often poorly placed for viewing.
With storms on the way from the southwest this was a good evening to attempt a sketch. The calm before the arrival of storms often leaves the seeing fair to good as was the case on this night. Craters such as Vasco da Gama (99 km.), Bohr (73 km.), Dalton (63 km.), Balboa (71 km.) and part of Einstein (175 km.) were all seen. Craters Cardanus (51 km.) and Krafft (53 km.) and the crater chain (catena) between them were in bright sunlight. The views all along the terminator were magnificent.
Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper (9” x 12”), white and black Conte’
pastel pencils. In addition a small artist’s brush and powdered Conte’ white crayon was used for blending. Contrast was slightly increased (+2) using a scanner to better match the original.
Telescope: 13.1 inch f/ 5.9 Dobsonian and 6 mm eyepiece 327 X
Date: 02-25-2013, 04:00-06:30 UT
Temperature: 0.0° C (32° F)
Partly cloudy, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude 86.9 °
Lunation 14.87 days
Illumination 99.5 %

Frank McCabe