Category: Galaxy

A Whale of a Galaxy in Cetus

M77

M77 (NGC 1068)
Sketch, Sketch Details and Note by Marek Plonka

Marek Plonka of Silesia Poland submitted this beautiful sketch of M77 (NGC 1068) and it’s stellar companions in the constellation Cetus. M77, at a distance of nearly 60 million light years, is one of the most distant galaxies in the Messier Catalog. The galaxy is huge, over 100,000 light years in diameter, making it larger than our own Milky Way Galaxy.

Sketch details:

Object name: M77 (NGC 1068) spiral galaxy
Scope: Skywather dobs 1200/200 + SWA 15mm
Place: Poland, Silesia, Skrzyszów
Seeing: 8/10 Transparency: 4/5
Date and time: 06.11.2008r, 9:00PM (21:00)
Technique: Pencil
Author: Marek Płonka (Poland, Silesia)

Note: I’ve always used only pencil. I’ve never corrected my sketches using computer software. I use GIMP only to improvement brightness, contrast, resize and crop images.

Deer Lick with Fleas

Deer Lick Group

NGC7331 and 3 Fleas (7335, 7337, 7340)
Sketch and Details by Jeff Young

NGC7331 and 3 Fleas (7335, 7337, 7340)

galaxy group in Pegasus

sketched from County Louth, Ireland

as viewed through 16” Mak-Cass @ 150X

These guys are a particular favourite of mine — even when transparency isn’t great there’s NGC7331 to look at, and when the skies are better one can hunt for the Fleas. They’re also a good measure of nearby Stephan’s Quintet — if you can’t see any of the fleas you’re unlikely to be able to pull in the Quintet.

This sketch captures 3 of the 4 fleas; the one I missed (NGC7336) is between the upper flea and the row of 3 stars above it. The largest Flea near the centre was the easiest of the three — the other two required a look at 335X to distinguish from very dim stars.

Derwent HB Sketching pencil on 150gsm cartridge paper. (I’ve since moved to a slightly softer pencil as I found Derwent’s HB too hard.)

The Milky Way’s Dancing Partner

M31

M31,The Great Nebula of Andromeda
Sketch and Sketch Information by Rajda Krzysztof

This wonderful sketch of M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, was submitted by
Polish amateur astronomer Rajda Krzysztof. At a distance of nearly 2 million
light years, it is one of the few galaxies that can be seen with the naked eye.
M31 is on a collision course with the Milky Way and in several billion years
the two galaxies will undergo radical transformations as they play out the
dance of coalescence. Rajda’s sketch is exquisite, note how the
dark dust lanes are represented so subtly.

Sketch information:
Obiect name: M31 galaxy
Scope:ATM truss dobs 300/1500
Place:Poland,Brzeźno
Seeing- 4/5
Date and time:02.11.2008r,8:00PM(20:00)
Technique:Pencil,graphics GIMP2
Amateur astronomer: Rajda Krzysztof (Poland)

Shallow Sky Meets Deep Sky

Asteroid and Galaxy

Asteroid 7 Iris and the Sombrero Galaxy, M104
Sketch and Details by Eric Graff

After taking a look at Boattini’s Comet, I decided to chase down another bit of solar system debris, Asteroid 7 Iris, bearing down on the Sombrero Galaxy (M104) in Virgo; the asteroid was half a degree away from the galaxy and two days from closest approach on May 6, 2008. I had hoped to make additional observations on subsequent nights, but the weather has not been cooperative, so here is my lone observation of this event.
NELM ~6.4; Pickering ~5-6.

The Splinter Galaxy

NGC 5907

NGC 5907
Sketch and Details by Ferenc Lovró

Date/time: 2008.06.29 23:00 UT
Equipment: 12″ f/5 Newtonian
FOV: 40′ Mag: 71x
Seeing: 7/10 Transparency: 5/5

A gigantic, greatly elongated galaxy, visible totally from its edge on. It covers an area of about 13′ x 1.4′ on the boundary of the constellations Draco and Auriga. It has a homogeneous colour, even its core is just slightly brighter than the rest of its outside territories. When looking at its shape, it’s very clear why it is commonly referred to as the Splinter galaxy.

Andromeda’s Subtle Structure

M31

M31
Sketch and Details by Kiminori Ikebe

M31(NGC 224) And Galaxy Difficulty level: 1/5
Date of observation: 1996/10/15 02:21
Observing site: Kuju
Transparency/seeing/sky darkness: 3/2/4
Instruments: 32cm Dobsonian and XL14
Magnification: 110x
Width of field: 0.6 degree
It is interesting to observe at higher magnifications for details. It is a magnificent view with two dark lanes clearly seen. A brighter circular core is visible within the large elongated central bulge. West of the center lies a double dark lane. The regions other than the dark lanes show unevenness in brightness.

Echo of Mirach’s Ghost

NGC 404

NGC 404 – Mirach’s Ghost
Sketch and Details by Dale Holt

Following Frank’s post of Mirach’s Ghost NGC 404 on Tues 16th I promised in my comments to follow in his footsteps when the sky cleared and sketch this interesting duo.
Last night with my 14″ and Watec 120N Video camera I did just that. With the gibbous Moon rising in the east, Jupiter low in the SW and the summer triangle high over head it was at last! a fine evening, but I needed to move fast before the ‘Ghost’ vanished in the light of the silvery moon.

It was fun to follow what Frank had accomplished so recently.

Telescope 350mm F5 Newtonian reflector on a driven mount
Watec 120N Deep Sky B&W video camera fitted with an 0.6x Atik focal reducer.
The sketch made in real time from b&w security monitor on white cartridge paper using black ink for stars, HB pencil and blending stump for NGC 404 and diffraction spikes.
The sketch was scanned and converted into a negative image in photoshop

Dale Holt, Chippingdale observatory, Chipping, Hertfordshire, England

Spectacular Sombrero

M104

M104 – The Sombrero Galaxy
Sketch and details by Wade V. Corbei

Here is another sketch from a few months back that I recently finished digitizing, M104 The Sombrero Galaxy.

As far as galaxies go, M104 is quite bright and well resolved, with a very bright core and dark lanes that can be seen with averted vision. Even more spectacular when observing this galaxy is the fairly rich star field that surrounds the galaxy in the EP.

I will be revisiting this galaxy again when it is visible and try pumping up the magnification to re-sketch this great DSO.