Category: Galaxy

The Great Andromeda Galaxy and Her Attendants

Object Name M31/32/110
Object Type Galaxy, dwarf galaxy
Location la Ferme des étoiles, Gers, France
Date 16/07/2010
Media black paper, pastel
A nice night in an astronomy center. I didn’t have the time to make with precision the details, the periphery of the galaxy is less brighter than on the sketch and black region less dark too. The sky was nice, with a little bit light pollution. fujinon 25×150. Think’s to François Couturier who let me practice with this big binoculars !

clear sky,
Boris

Down the Whirlpool

NGC 5194/5195 (M-51)
The “Whirlpool Galaxy”
Interacting galaxies
24/05/06
Ilford NSW Australia
41cm f4.5 dobsonian telescope
Field: 23′
Magnification: x210
Canes Venatici

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

What can I say about the Whirlpool Galaxy?

At my location Messier 51 is at a little over +47 deg, so it is about as far north as I can go without getting ridiculous, especially when there is a big chunk of glass sitting at the bottom of the telescope.
At this extreme declination I only require a modest chair to sit on as the object is so low in the northern sky.

I done this sketch in 2006 in my old 41cm dob, which was before I purchased a sky quality meter so information on the “seeing” conditions is a bit scant.

However the northern sky from my site always seems to look a bit hazy down low despite the fact that there is no major city in that direction except from the
rural township of Mudgee some 40km away.

I best leave any thoughts on my interpretation of NGC 5194/5195 for those who observe it far higher in the sky than me.

Scott Mellish

The Triangulum Galaxy

Attached for consideration is my sketch of the galaxy M33 as seen in my 120mm refracter at an RASC Ottawa observing site near Almonte Ontario about 45 minutes from my home in east end Ottawa. The sketch was drawn at the eyepiece using graphite on bond paper and then converted to a negative image using Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI. The sketch was done on the evening of November 2, 2010 at 9:50 local time one a night of very good seeing and transparency. M33 is almost always impossible from my suburban backyard so whenever I am at a darker site I take the opportunity to track down object that shine so nicely in rural dark skies.

Gordon A. Webster

Thirty Three Million Year Old light

Galaxy NGC 1023 in Perseus

This is a bright galaxy in the constellation of Perseus that can be seen in a 4.25 inch scope under good sky conditions. NGC 1023 is morphologically classified as a SBO lenticular barred galaxy. It looks much like an armless spiral galaxy in large telescope images. At 33 million light years away it is surprisingly bright at 9.5-10.2 visual magnitude and has a bright nuclear core. The bar was not detectable. A faint companion NGC 1023A is superimposed on its eastern side but also not detectable visually in a 10″ scope. This is a pretty good target from light polluted skies if you are looking for galaxies with a modest instrument on a moonless night.

Sketching:
NGC 1023
Date and Time: 11-2-2010, 10:30pm – 11:15pm local time
Scope: 10” f/5.7 Dobsonian. 12 mm eyepiece 121x
8″x 12″ black sketching paper, white Conte’ pastel pencil,
blending stump, printer scanned
Seeing: Pickering 6/10
Transparency: Average 4/5
Faintest stars visible overhead 4.2
Temperature: 3°C (38°F) calm
Galaxy magnitude: 9.5- 10.2
Distance: 33 million light years
Location Constellation: Pegasus
R.A. 2h 40m 24s; Dec +39° 04′

Frank McCabe

A Superlative Spiral

NGC 1365
Barred spiral galaxy
Fornax
09/08/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 27′
Magnification: 218x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:57

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

NGC 1365 was discovered by James Dunlop in 1826, and ranks as one of the most beautiful barred spiral galaxies in the skies.

In the 56cm dob one can only describe the view via the use of superlatives.

Scott Mellish

Dancing in the Virgo Supercluster

NGC 5566/5569/5560
Galaxies
Virgo
14/05/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5.0 dobsonian telescope
Field: 17′
Magnification: 354x
Sky quality meter reading: 21:38

Black Canford paper
White pen
White pencil
White pastel chalk
Fine tip paint brush

From the Realm Of The Nebulae comes this interesting trio of relatively bright galaxies.

From the top of the sketch we have NGC 5569 followed by NGC 5566 (Arp 286) and at the bottom is
NGC 5560.

Deep images show that these galaxies are interacting, with the dominant member being NGC 5566.

One of the best images of this little combination featured on APOD recently http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100813.html
and shows them in all their glory.

Though I would have to say that sketching materials are a lot less expensive than fitting oneself of with CCD gear.

Scott Mellish

NGC 253 From Inner Sydney

Object : NGC 253, Sculptor Galaxy
Type : near edge-on spiral galaxy
Location : Inner Sydney, Australia
Date : Aug. 10, 2010
Media : White paint, grey and white pencil on black paper
Gear: 17.5” truss dob, GSO Superview 30mm eyepiece, 67X
Conditions: Heavily light polluted

Hi all,
I’ve just found this brilliant site and I’d like to make a submission.

While we would all like to get to a dark site, it isn’t always possible. So last August the best I could manage was a session from my backyard in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.

NGC has a lovely lenticular shape, with its extensions very slowly fading out, and a with a brighter Core . I noticed a darker “lane” running down from just below the Core down through the left lobe.

Conditions of Sydney’s sky have deteriorated significantly in the last year, sadly. I remember much more detail was observable last year in 253, and other objects easily visible last year today exceptionally faint, or now invisible in my 17.5” reflector, L .

Kind Regards,

Alex Massey

Deep Inside the Whale

NGC 839/838/835/833
Hickson 16
Cetus
09/08/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 15′
Magnification: 314x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:57

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

This lovely little chain of four galaxies was easily visible in the 56cm dob.
Though small all of them were fairly bright at around mag 12.5.

Quite a number of the Hickson galaxy groups are faint and challenging objects.
This group however was a pleasant surprise.

Scott Mellish

The Wolf-Lunmark-Melotte System

MCG-3-1-15
“Wolf-Lunmark-Melotte System”
Dwarf irregular galaxy
Cetus
09/08/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 32′
Magnification:: 129x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:58

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

This diffuse dwarf galaxy required a relatively wide field with modest magnification to show it at its best.
The WLM system is a distant local group member around 4 million light years away and was discovered by Max Wolf in 1909.
However it was not until 1926 that its nature as a galaxy was determined by Knut Lundmark and P.J. Melotte.

This galaxy also has an extra-galactic globular which is a challenge for keen deep sky observers.

After checking some finder charts against the sketch I have marked what I suspect is the globular.

Scott Mellish