Category: Planetary

Planet Number Six

Saturn

Saturn
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

This was my first attempt at sketching the planet Saturn while using white Conte’ crayons on black paper. Over a period of 3 hours I made 4 drawings of Saturn. The first 3 made during the first two hours looked terrible but the third one, although rough and grainy looking, came out recognizable as a ringed planet. I have nothing but the highest respect for those sketchers that regularly and beautifully draw this planet.
I could clearly see the dark planet shadow on the A and B rings. I could not hold the C ring constantly visible and so I did not include it in the drawing. The Cassini division was clearly visible but not the Encke division. Contrast between the brighter equatorial zone and the southern equatorial belt above it were easily seen. Four of Saturn’s moons were easily seen when the high thin clouds moved on. Clockwise starting above the planet in the drawing is Titan (mag.8.8), then Tethys (mag.10.7), next Rhea (mag.10.2) and finally Dione (mag.10.8). Mimas and Enceladus were in the field of view but hidden by the planets glare.
Saturn and its moon make wonderful targets for a clear night at the eyepiece of a telescope. Sketching the view just simply adds to the enjoyment.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 8”x 11”, white and black Conte’pastel crayons, an eraser shield, and a blending stump. Brightness was slightly decreased (-5) and contrast increased (+3) after scanning using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian and 6mm eyepiece 241x
Date: 5-5-2008 4:00 – 5:00 UT
Temperature: 13°C (56°F)
high clouds, calm
Seeing: Pickering 6.5

Hydra’s Fleeting Visitor

C/2007 W1 (Boattini)

C/2007 W1 (Boattini)
Sketch and details by Eric Graff

Here is my sketch of comet C/2007 W1 (Boattini) on it leisurely coarse through the starfields of western Hydra. The coma has an overall diameter of at least 12′ and an apparent visual magnitude in the 7.5-8.0 range. The soft, diffuse glow brightens gradually to the center, with occasional glimpses of a smaller, more intense concentration at the core. The whole seems to have a slight aqua tint, but that impression of color tended to be fleeting at best.

Pickering’s Martian Penmanship

Mars

Mars: May – July, 1892
Sketch by Professor William Pickering

This series of Martian sketches was prepared by William Pickering in 1892. They were printed the article, “The Lowell Observatory, In Arizona,” by Edward S. Holden in The Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Volume VI, 1894, pages 160-170 at Google Books. Mr. Holden’s article featured Pickerings drawings along with comparison drawings made at the Lick observatory during the same Martian apparition. Holden expressed considerable concern over the conclusions Pickering and Lowell published regarding their observations of Mars:

The very essence of the scientific habit of mind is conscientious caution; and this is especially necessary in referring to matters in which the whole intelligent world is interested—as the condition of the planet Mars, for example. I may take as an example the telegrams regarding Mars sent by cable from South America in 1892 by Professor WILLIAM PICKERING, who is to be the chief observer at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. I quote two out of many such telegrams:NEW YORK, October 6, 1892. – The Herald correspondent at Valparaiso cables as follows: Professor PICKERING of the Harvard Branch Observatory at Arequipa says that he discovered forty small lakes in Mars.How does he know the dark markings are lakes? Why does he not simply call them dark spots? And is he sure there are forty?

NEW YORK, September 2, 1892. – Professor PICKERING of Harvard College sends the following to the Herald from Arequipa, Peru:

‘Mars has two mountain ranges near the south pole. Melted snow has collected between them before flowing northward. In the equatorial mountain range, to the north of the gray regions, snow fell on the two summits on August 5 and melted on August 7. I have seen eleven lakes near Solis Lacus varying in area from 80 by 100 miles to 40 by 40 miles. Branching dark lines connect them with two dark areas like seas, but not blue. There has been much trouble, since snow melted, in the Arean clouds. These clouds are not white, but yellowish and partly transparent. They now seem to be breaking up, but they hang densely on the south side of the mountain range. The northern green spot has been photographed. Many of SCHIAPARELLI’S canals have been seen single.”*

*Several of these canals were seen not only single but double at Mount Hamilton, do not know that they were so seen in Peru.

How is it known that there are two polar mountain ranges? How does he know that the flow will be northwards? And an equatorial range? Are not the gray regions so extensive that the description is, to say the least, indefinite? What is the evidence of “trouble” in the clouds? Is it certain that no clouds on Mars are white? How about the clouds “twenty miles high” reported by Professor PICKERING? Were they not white?

These and similar telegrams from South America regarding the happenings on Mars in the year 1892 were received by the astronomers at the LICK Observatory with a kind of amazement.

Jets of Machholz

C/2004 Q2 Machholz

C/2004 Q2 (Machholz)
Sketch and Details by Martin Mc Kenna

Three jets issuing from the nucleus of C/2004 Q2 Machholz on Dec 28th at 18.22 LT and Dec 29th through the 8″ F/6.3 S. Cass at 49X. Over a period of several nights I could see the position of the jets changing due to the rotation of the comets nucleus. These jets were bright white linear, pencil thin features that were easy to see. CCD imagers confirmed my visual sighting several nights later. Machholz was an unusual comet as it stayed far from the sun, was visible all night high in a dark sky and was easy with the naked eye. Not all comets are so considerate as many bright new comers remain hidden within bright twilight close to the sun skirting the horizon.

I was delighted to be the first in Ireland to track down this comet – my first observation was made late on a winters night before Christmas using a Meade 3.5″ ETX from a nearby pitch – a location which let me see low down into the eastern sky. I found the comet quickly above distant rooftops and in good time to as 20 min’s later dense mist and murk obscured the this sky sector for days afterward!

Last Summer’s Jupiter

Jupiter

Jupiter
Sketch and Details by Carlos E. Hernandez

Date (U.T.): July 21, 2007
Time (U.T.): 04:20
L1 300.0, L2 115.3, L3 012.3
Instrument: 9-inch (23-cm) F/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain
Magnification: 273x
Filters: None (IL)
Seeing (1-10): 6, Antoniadi (I-V): III
Transparency (1-6): 4-5

Notes:
South Polar Region (SPR): Appeared dark to dusky (3-4/10) and mottled.
South Temperate Zone (STZ): Appeared thin and bright (7/10).
South Temperate Belt (STB): Appeared thin and dark to dusky (3-4/10). No ovals noted at this time within it.
South Tropical Zone (STrZ): Appears bright (7/10) and contains the Great Red Spot (GRS) and a dull (5/10) band following the GRS.
Great Red Spot (GRS): Appears dusky to dull (4-5/10) with a dark (3/10) center. I was unable to time it as a tree blocked my view.
South Equatorial Belt (SEB): Appears irregular, especially preceding the Great Red Spot (GRS). The portion of the SEB preceding the GRS appears dark to dull (3-5/10) over it’s northern half whereas dusky (4/10), isolated condensations are noted along the typical southern border of the SEB. The SEB following the GRS appears dark to dusky (3-4/10) containing bright (7/10) ovals/rifts within it.
Equatorial Zone (EZ): Appears shaded to bright (6-7/10) and contains a band (EZB) across it’s midsection. Blue festoon projections (from blue festoons along the NEB-S) are also noted within it.
North Equatorial Belt (NEB): Appeared dark to dusky (3-4/10) with a bright (7/10) rift originating preceding the CM (over the southern border) and extending towards the following limb. Two blue festoon bases were noted along the southern border of the NEB.
North Temperate Belt (NTB): Appears north of the NEB as broad, dusky (4/10) band.
North Polar Region (NPR): Appears dark to dull (3-5/10) and mottled.

A Freckle on the Sun

Mercury-Solar Transit

Mercury-Solar Transit
Sketch and Commentary by Jeremy Perez
Move cursor over sketch to see labels.

On Wednesday, November 8th, 2006, Mercury was due for a solar transit. Now, in my neck of the woods, that just happens to be a work day. So I planned to set up the scope during lunch in the parking lot, or outside the lunchroom. The only thing I needed was a solar filter. A couple years ago, a very kind and generous amateur astronomer from Phoenix, Scott Kroeppler, sent me a couple small Baader solar film samples. Other than some casual, unmagnified looks at the sun, I hadn’t put them to good use. Until now. I stayed up the night before, rigging these two 1-inch square pieces of solar film and a sewing hoop to an 8 inch square piece of foam core. I wasn’t sure if it would work, but the next morning, I pulled into the parking lot at work, put my mangy, home-made solar cap on the front, and got a handheld look at the sun for the first time through my own scope. Not only did it work great, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a huge sun spot easing over the solar limb.

So I got to work, and then about 15 minutes before the beginning of the transit, I put it all together on the patio outside the lunch room where I had the best opening between all the trees. I didn’t start quite early enough, because by the time I got everything set up and the solar cap taped on securely, Mercury was already well inside the solar disc. It looked just like a printed period against blue-white filtered circle of the sun. It had entered just south of the massive sunspot I noticed earlier. A couple fainter sunspots rested on the opposite side. At that point, I made my first solar sketch, and noted how easy it would be to really exaggerate distances and proportions across the sun’s face. I was excited to see that light, textured, filamentary features were visible around the sunspots. As I studied these features, I noticed that it didn’t take long for Mercury’s motion to become apparent.

Over the next 45 minutes, I invited passing coworkers to have a look. They all seemed happy to get a look at the transit, particularly after reading about it in the newspaper the day before. As folks walked up to the eyepiece, I tried to coach them a bit with the sketch to be sure they didn’t confuse the sunspot for Mercury. Quite a few commented on how very tiny the little planet appeared. Several of them were even able to make out the two relatively faint sunspots over on the western limb as well. After a little more than an hour, I moved the scope to an out-of-the-way spot, and went back to work.

At about 20 minutes before the end of the transit, I raced outside to find that the sun was completely hidden behind trees where I had the scope set up. With a bit of scouting, I moved the whole thing into the parking lot about a hundred yards to the north where I had a clear vantage. And here I got to watch that perfect little dot edge closer to the western edge of the sun. At about four Mercury diameters from the edge, the whole shebang began to sink behind a tree-lined ridge a mile to the west. So I missed seeing Mercury merge with and disappear into the darkness on the other side of the sun. It was still a fascinating event to witness, and since Mercury won’t do this again until 2016, I’m glad I was able to fit it in.

The sketch at the top of this post was overlayed onto a digitally generated disc with limb darkening that estimates what I saw through the eyepiece. The next time I sketch the sun this way, I’m sure I’ll want to include the lighter features, which will mean generating that limb darkening manually and erasing through it.

Subject Mercury – Solar Transit
Classification Planetary/Solar
Date/Time November 8, 2006, 12:33 – 04:54 PM MST (November 8, 2006, 07:33 – 11:54 UT)
Observing Loc. Flagstaff, AZ
Instrument Orion SVP 6LT Reflector (150 mm dia./1200 mm F/L)
Eyepieces/Mag. 25 mm (48X)
Conditions Clear, breezy
Seeing Ant. IV

McNaught-Hartley in Motion

C/1999 T1 McNaught-Hartley

C/1999 T1 McNaught-Hartley B

C/1999 T1 McNaught-Hartley
Sketch and Commentary by Martin Mc Kenna

The top sketch shows C/1999 T1 Mc Naught – Hartley on Jan 14th 2001 at 06.30 LT low in the eastern pre dawn sky between Libra and Serpens in the 8″ F/10 S.Cass at 77X. Despite frozen mist, a harsh ground frost and a moon 4 days after full I could see this 8th magnitude comet quite easily and even picked out two tails, one of gas and one of dust.

The 2nd sketch shows the comet on Feb 25th 2001 at 05.47 LT in Hercules at magnitude 8.8. The sketch shows the comets NE movement over a 2 hour period.

This comet is very special to me as during Dec it was moving from the southern hemisphere into the northern hemisphere and I was desperate to see it. I tried to located it on every clear night even when the moon was full hoping to catch the comet as cleared horizon obstructions however despite trying so hard I could not get low enough in the eastern sky. The pre dawn hours of Christmas morning were cold, sharp with heavy snow on the ground and the corrector plate was threatening to freeze over at any moment. I guided the 8″ into the low eastern sky and began a hunt for new comets. 5 Minutes later as I swept through the southern section of Libra that was just rising over my neighbours rooftop and I found the comet! I was delighted beyond words and it felt like this comet was my Christmas present from the sky. I followed this icy wander on every clear night for months afterward as it moved from the morning sky into the evening sky. Mc Naught – Hartley taught me alot about observing comets, the long hours spent watching this comet have benefited me greatly with the future comets I have encountered.