Hey ASOD!
I send you C/ 2004 Q2 (Machholz).
This comet was a very interesting object to observe also in high
magnification, as it showed two faint jets from the false nucleus
and a great seperation between the ion- and dustail. Info on sketch.
It was also splended to observe with my 10 x 50 binos as it glided
near the Pleiade starcluster. (See my bino- sketch on ASOD- gallery)!
I used pencil on white paper (inverted).
Loc.: Trondheim, Norway.
Best wishes from Per-Jonny Bremseth.
Object: Comet (C/2012 K1 Panstarrs)
Date: May 27, 2014
Location: Aguila, Arizona USA
Medium: Digital, iPhone – The following apps were used to render the sketch; Sketchbook Mobile, Juxtaposer, Paint FX & eZY Watermark.
Instruments: Binoculars- Orion 25×100 and Celestron 8×56 with a FoV of 2.5 degrees and 5.8 degrees respectively.
Magnitude: 8.5
Weather: One cannot ask for a better night than, 75 degrees F and no winds! A superb clear and dark sky with an average read out of 21.6 mag/arcsec^2.
Comments:
The comet is not a naked eye object just yet. However, with the help of a good dark site, averted vision and my 8×56 binos, you can detect “her fuzziness” among the stars. My guiding or go-to star was 52Psi UMa. Below or to the west of 52Psi UMa, are three stars of almost equal magnitude. Within those stars, there appeared the the dirty chunk of sublimating matter. No other physical characteristics were noticed using the 8×56 binoculars except to spot the fuzzy traveler.
Wohoo, we have a tail! That’s what the 25×100 will reveal. Yes, the coma and false nucleus become evident along with the dust tail. Dim but noticeable is the dust tail that is somewhat broad and undefined, extending towards the east. I would calculate it to be about 1/3rd of a degree in length. Glowing at magnitude 8.5 according to some sources, comet Panstarrs also, showed a faint stellar nucleus. I gave an estimate to its degree of condensation to be between 4 and 5. I tried to look for any greenish hue but none was noticed. Panstarrs C/2012 K1 is a tenuous comet that’s a challenge to observe but, will give us some more and better opportunities as the months progress.
About the sketch- I’d like to add that digital sketching is not a scopeside skill that I have mastered. I made many attempts to plot the starfield of the binoculars with no success. The repetitive task of looking back and forth between iPhone and binoculars killed my dark adapted eyes.The iPhone is very bright even when the screen brightness is vastly decreased. So the next logical steps was to take all information on paper, plus make mental notes of all and any pertinent physical traits. Once that was done, I went ahead back to the iPhone like a champ and put all that info to visualization. Enjoy!
Clear and Dark Skies,
Juanchin
Mars: 02:00UT May 31, 2014
Average seeing and transparency occurred during the entire observation time.
I was using a 6 mm eyepiece to get the magnification up to 241x.
The color version was made indoors after the graphite eyepiece sketch.
The north polar cap was small and clearly visible. Mare Acidalium appeared very dark and Niliacus Lacus appeared somewhat darker than during my observation one week ago. Sinus Meridiani, Sinus Sabaeus and Margaritifer Sinus were all clearly visible. Clouds were visible over Aeria and the parts of Syrtis Major just visible at the preceding limb. Clouds also covered Tharsis.
Equipment and Sketching:
This is an eyepiece sketch made with a HB graphite pencil, blending stumps, White Pearl eraser on white sketching paper and assorted colored pencils.
Date 05/31/2014 – Time 02:00 – 03:00 UT
Telescope: 10 inch f/5.7 Dobsonian on an equatorial platform and 6mm eyepiece 241x with a Neodymium filter
Temperature: 20°C (68°F)
Partly cloudy, calm
Transparency 3/5
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Mars: May 31, 2014; 02:00-03:00 UT
CM 355°, Dist. 0.79 AU
Dia. 11.9”, visual mag. -0.5
Illum. 91.4 %
Frank McCabe
Jupiter was almost directly at zenith and very bright. It was also located directly atop the star Gemini Delta. I could spot all four Galilean moons easily through my binoculars. Towards the end of this sketch, a heavy mist/fog rolled in, diffusing my view…
Object: Jupiter in constellation Gemini
Date: December 4th, 2013 – 4:30 – 5am CT
Location: New Braunfels, Texas – front yard
Conditions: 54°F, misty/fog
Instruments: 10×50 Wide-Angle Binoculars
Medium: Graphite on white sketch paper, inverted
(see the original sketch)
Thank You,
Jen Bishop
Stars of Jen
http://stars.jenbishop.com
Hey ASOD!
I send you a binocular-observation of the splended C/ 1995 01 (Hale- Bopp)!
I think that comets is the most interesting objects on the sky with many
surprises and fine to observe for amateur- astronomers. Info on my sketch.
Loc.: Trondheim, Norway.
I used watercolor crayons on black paper.
Hello,
I made 19 drawings during the opposition of Mars in 2014, observed T400 x450 750. Prior work finalized in color, I kept on files other than the “gross eye” picture. This allows me to offer two world maps: one color, the other from these crude drawings.
The method:
– Flattening drawings with the “MAP” function IRIS software;
– Creation of a mosaic with a logicile retourche image of the best areas of each drawing.
Bonjour,
J’ai réalisé 19 dessins lors l’opposition martienne de 2014, observé au T400 x450 à 750. Avant le travail de finalisation en couleur, j’ai conservé sur des fichiers à part l’image “brute d’oculaire” . Cela me permet de vous proposer 2 planisphères : l’un en couleur, l’autre à partir de ces dessins bruts.
La méthode :
– mise à plat des dessins avec la fonction “MAP” du logiciel IRIS;
– réalisation d’une mosaique avec un logicile de retourche d’image des meilleurs zones de chaque dessin.
Serge
Please find attached 2 of my recent Mars observations from this week rendered with Watercolour paints.
I used my 153mm Triplet F9 refractor, binoviewer and neodymium filter, 15mm Tele vue panoptic eyepieces yielding 215x.
I hope that they are of interest. Seeing was difficult on both occasions, but I have enjoyed seeing the bright clouds which the refractor has shown ably.
Kind regards, Dale
Do you want to know more about my interest in astronomy? If so take a look at my Website: http://www.chippingdaleobservatory.com/
Keep up to date with observations from Chippingdale Observatory by reading the Blog http://chippingdaleobservatory.com/blog/
Object Name (PanSTARRS C/2012 K1 and STF1758)
Object Type (Comet and Double Star)
Location (OAB – Observatoire Astronomique de Bauduen)
Date (May 1st, 2014)
Media (graphite pencil, watercolor, white 300gr paper)
Ahhh, this night I really enjoyed myself! Imagine a unlikely place of beauty, the St. Croix lake, with the emerald waters of the “gorges du Verdon” and just above a sky of dream.
Between the two: the Olivier Planchon Observatory located near the nice small village of Bauduen. In the observatory a heavy reflector holding a main mirror of 24″ (620mm) f/d 3.3, a series of brand new Ethos eyepieces and voila.
My pencils show the target of the moment: another comet PanSTARRS, still quite small, but just near the comet a very pretty double star.
My friend “Apilaure” a specialist of double stars, talks about this double:
– It is also called STF1758, a Struve of 1830. The separation was 3.4” in 2010. It is more than likely a physical double because Hipparcos gives the same parallax for A and B, so a distance of 279 light year. The couple turns slowly, 15° in almost 2 centuries.
This is undoubtedly the superb material and this nice double, that I was deprived of the sight of the ion tail, I will return in this observatory, that’s more than sure!
I wish all the best to the ASOD community !
Michel Deconinck
Mars: May 06, 2014
Earth’s atmosphere was only permitting a mediocre view at best.
To the south bright Hellas was visible up to the limb. Mare Tyrrhenum, Mare Cimmerium and southern Syrtis Major all appeared dark, contrasting nicely with lighter Libya and Aeria. The northern reaches of Syrtis Major appeared much lighter than the southern parts. Alcyonius Nodus was intermittently visible.
A portion of Elysium could be seen but was mostly cloud covered. Utopia and the North Polar cap were plainly visible. Limb haze was present on both the preceding and following limbs.
It is always a pleasure to view and attempt to make a sketch of Mars.
Equipment and Sketching:
This is an eyepiece sketch made with a HB graphite pencil, blending stumps, white Pearl eraser on white sketching paper. Colorized version made indoors from the eyepiece sketch and notes on the colors needed from colored pencils.
Date 05/06/2014 – Time 04:10 – 05:15 UT
Telescope: 13.1 inch f/5.9 Dobsonian and 6mm eyepiece 333x with a Neodymium filter stacked on a neutral density filter; An Equatorial platform was also used
Temperature: 6°C (43°F)
Partly cloudy, breezy
Transparency 3/5
Seeing: Antoniadi III-IV
Mars: May 06, 2014 04:30 UT
CM254°, Dist. 0.66 AU
Dia. 14.15”, visual mag. -1.1
Illum.96.5 %
Frank McCabe
Hello ASOD! I present to you one of my sketches – here is a lovely Comet Lovejoy. Info about date, equipment, etc is on it. Sketch created scopeside with pencil and blending stump on white paper while observing this beautiful Comet ~2 hours before sunrise. I hope you enjoy that sketch. Clear Skies!
