Category: Galaxy

Interacting or Not?

NGC 2294/2291/2289/2288/2290
Galaxies
Gemini
12/12/10
56cm f5 dosonian telescope
Field: 17′
Magnification: 354x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:58

Black Canford paper
White pen
White pencil
White oil pencil
White pastel chalk
Paint brush
Blending stump

This was quite a nice collection of galaxies in Gemini that viewed well in the 56cm dob.

The brightest member of this group is NGC 2294, as is quite evident in the sketch.
Descending to the right is NGC 2291 a diffuse mag 14.0 galaxy, followed directly below about 6′ by two
quite faint and small galaxies NGC 2289/2288 which are only some 2′ apart.

The last object in this group is NGC 2290 another diffuse mag 14.0 galaxy about 1.0′ x 1.0′ in size.

This was a fairly faint group, but they were not overly challenging from a dark sky site.

I do not know whether any of these galaxies are in interaction, but looking at some DSS images of this
group it seems unlikely.

Scott Mellish

Farthest Star Visible

Every star visible with a scope are from our galaxy, supernovas are an exception!

The exploded star was clearly visible, maybe could seem just a star, but friends is a SUPERNOVA!!

NGC 2655 + SN2011B

Galaxy + Supernova

Torroja del Priorat – Spain

22-01-2011

Graphite pencil and blending stump, simply inverted with PS and rounded stars too.

Greetings

Stefano

Grand Design

M74

Galaxy

Location: Cherry Springs State Park (Dark Sky Park), Pennsylvania

Date of observation: December 29, 2010

A digital drawing (pressure- and tilt-sensitive pen tablet, simulated pencil, blender, airbrush, filtering). Derived from the original sketch in ball-pen. North up, West right.

Conditions: culmination and past culmination from latitude 40 North, 700m/2200ft above sea level, clear, fairly transparent, -10C/15F.

Notes: At 75x in a 16-inch/40-cm, M74’s halo shows strong but inconstant hints of structure. Increasing the power to 225x brings out the star which is the closest to the nucleus in the drawing. After this, the two brightest parts of the spiral arms become noticeable, as well as the stronger (NNW) part of the inner halo. Once these have been seen, backing off to 150x completes the spiral arms to the extent depicted in the drawing. The drawing is close to the actual final view at 150x, but this view developed in the above manner over the course of the evening. Comparison with photographs casts some doubt on the reality of how the northern parts of the arms run in my view, but then what is reality.

A Barred Spiral Galaxy in the Furnace

Hi everyone,

This is a sketch of ngc 1365(barred spiral galaxy) which was made from my backyard in the southern highlands nsw Australia on the 6/1/11.The sketch was made using a variety of graphite pencils on white paper.The equipment used was a 130mm reflector with a 15mm plossol eyepiece.

cheers orestis

Happy Ending

Object Name: Sombrero Galaxy
Object Type: Galaxy
Location: Itajobi, SP, Brazil
Date: 31/12/2010 – 07h00min UT
Media: 2B 0.5mm graphite pencil on white paper, scanned, inverted then edited colors

Telescope: newtonian 180mm f/D=6 dob mount
Eyepieces: SuperPlossl 32mm; Plossl 10mm; SuperPlossl 6mm
Seeing: 4/5 (good)
Fair wind, temperature around 20ºC, no clouds in the sky.

I observed this galaxy for about two hours that night. In the beginning, the sky was dark but Sombrero was low in the sky. By the end of the observation, Sombrero was high, however the sky was not so dark. An astonishing gibbous moon was rising, in conjunction wiht Venus, separated about 8º. I was in my backyard, not the perfect place because it’s downtown, so the dark line on the galaxy could be seen only using averted vision. It was really hard to see any detail due to the fair contrast between the galaxy and the dark blue sky. Even facing that troubles, it was a special night, because I had seen Sombrero Galaxy just once before, and hadn’t sketched it. That’s a great way to end the year, with a new sketch. I hope you enjoy it. I’ll sketch this galaxy from a dark place someday, to see the difference.
That night I could see also two shooting stars, as bright as brief. One across Centaurus and the other close to the zenith, both were golden.

Rodrigo Pasiani Costa

Finding a Silver Dollar in Sculptor

Object Name: NGC 253
Location: AR 0h 47′; Dec -25º 17′
Type: Spiral Galaxy Sc
Constellation: Sculptor.
Observing Location: Malpica del Tajo. Toledo. SPAIN.
Date: November 5, 2010
Time: 23h TU
Material used: graphite pencil on white paper. Sketch processed with Photoshop.
Telescope: Celestron S/C 8″ Mount Cgt5
Eyepiece: 31 mm Hyperion-Aspheric (65X).

What a wonderful galaxy! It is unfortunate that from my position this object is so low in the sky. Despite this drawback, I am convinced that no one will be disappointed if you point your telescope to NGC 523, the extraordinary Sculptor Galaxy.

More information about the sketch and NGC 253 in:

http://astrodibujo.blogspot.com/

I wish you all HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011

To the Edge

NGC 4517
Galaxy
Virgo
28/03/06
Ilford NSW Australia
41cm f4.7 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 23′
Magnification: 210x
Sky quality: N/A

Black Canford paper
White pen
White pencil
White pastel chalk
Blending stump
Paint brush

NGC 4517 is a really nice edge-on galaxy around 12′ x 2′ in size.
In the 41cm dob this galaxy looked very elegant and is designated as type Sc.
However visually it looks somewhat irregular in its appearance.

It reminds me of NGC 55 in Sculptor.
This is one of my older sketches from 2006.

Scott Mellish.