Category: Colored Pencil

NGC 5286

NGC 5286
NGC 5286
Sketch and Details by Scott Mellish

NGC 5286
Globular Cluster
Centaurus
18/03/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 27′
Magnification: 218x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:39

This rather quaint little globular cluster was mostly resolved in the
56cm dob at 218x mag.

The bright orange/yellow tinged star in the field is the spectroscopic
binary M Centauri, a G-type star which lies around 257 ly from Earth,

Both the star and the globular cluster together make for a most pleasing
view.

Scott Mellish.

Mars Map 2009-2010

Mars Map 2010
Mars Map 2009-2010
Sketch and Details by Kris Smet

Hi,

i’d like to submit the mars map from the opposition 09/10 made from various observations through my 8″ & 12″ dobsons (both f/5 which is not really ideal for planetary observing) from my backyard in belgium.

mars regularly got high enough (up to 60+ degrees) to compensate for the mostly mediocre seeing here. there were a few nights of good seeing though, especially the evening of 01 march showed some very good to excellent seeing! i’ve attached that sketch too.

i only use orthoscopic eyepieces (university optics, 4,5,6,7,9,12.5mm) wich yield up to 250x and 375x magnification in the 8″ & 12″ scopes. i find them to provide a noticeably clearer and crisper image than various standard plossl’s, and they don’t cost an arm and a leg!

To increase more i use them in combination with a televue 2,5x powermate which has the additional benefit of sharpening the edge of the fov (a normal barlow does the same as well) which is very useful when using a dobsonian telescope. i can mount the 8″ scope on a tracking mount, but not my 12″ scope.
when seeing is poor, use is made of an apodizing mask which improves seeing drastically in my experience, but dims the view a bit, but that’s hardly a problem with a target as bright as mars through a 12″ scope!

Mars

i’ve made around 20 separate sketches from which i put together the map. i started sketching mars from june 30 2009, altough i observed the tiny 4,7″ disk during the morning twilight one month earlier. observing and sketching during winter can be hard as temperatures dropped to about -14°C (from where you live this may not sound very cold though) and you need to try to keep your head as still as possible looking through the eyepiece.

a rough outdoor sketch is redone and coloured with standard colour pencils inside, where it’s warm, on a template between 3 and 8 cm depending on the actual size of the planet’s disk. then it’s scanned, sometimes brightness and contrast need to be adjusted a little, and for the individual sketches a glowing background is added representing my view through the scope.

greetings

Kris

Rising Prominence

Prominence - April 10, 2010
Prominence – April 10, 2010
Sketch and Details by Les Cowley

For at least three days April 8-10, 2010 a large and ever-changing prominence rotated into view over the Sun’s NE limb. Its extent in solar longitude must therefore be considerable. Here is its appearance 09:00 UT on 10th April. Sketched directly at the eyepiece of a Solarmax 60 single stacked H-alpha scope 50 – 80X. Daler Watercolour, Studio and Drawing pencils on black Camford paper.

Les Cowley

An Abundance of Solar Activity

Sun - H-alpha - April 9, 2010
Sun – H-Alpha – April 9, 2010
Sketch and Details by Stephen Ames

I use:
Crayola Cerulean pencil for plage
Crayola Aqua Green pencil for proms
White 20# paper
I scan into photoshop and invert.

Blue skies,

Stephen Ames

See your life giving sun in vivid images and art
from observers all over the world at
www.SeeMySunspot.com

Faces of Mars

Mars Compilation 2010
Mars Compilation – January 10 – March 9, 2010

These sketches were created by 27 members of the www.CloudyNights.com Sketching Forum. They are based on observations of Mars on and around its opposition, from January 10th, 2010 to March 9th, 2010. Multiple mediums were used from pencil and paper to digital. The community of forum members whose sketches are shown are from the following countries: France, Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, South East Asia, United Kingdom, and USA. The instruments they used and the date of their observation is as follows:

Jay Eads 250mm Newtonian 01/10/2010
Sol Robbins 152mm Newtonian 01/11/2010
MikeSemmler 80mm Refractor 01/23/2010
Kris 203mm Newtonian 01/26/2010
Cpl43uk 203mm Catiotropic 01/23/2010
Astroducky 318mm Newtonian 01/27/2010
Sixela 400mm Newtonian 01/27/2010
CarlosEH 229mm Catiotropic 01/29/2010
Dweller25 203mm Newtonian 01/29/2010
Jeff Young 152mm Catiotropic 01/29/2010
BillP 102mm Refractor 01/31/2010
Uwe Pilz 152mm Catiotropic 01/31/2010
Rerun 102mm Refractor 02/04/2010
Special Ed 200mm Catiotropic 02/05/2010
Jef De Wit 305mm Newtonian 02/04/2010
MarkSeibold 127mm Catiotropic 02/05/2010
Phxbird 152mm Newtonian 02/07/2010
Erika Rix 406mm Newtonian 02/07/2010
Mathteacher 100mm Refractor 02/07/2010
NUNKY 120mm Refractor 02/08/2010
Frank5817 333mm Newtonian 02/13/2010
Tommy5 152mm Refractor 02/14/2010
NerfMonkey 305mm Newtonian 02/15/2010
JayScheuerle 120mm Refractor 01/20/2010
Robert Forgacs 305mm Newtonian 02/02/2010
Roel 102mm Refractor 03/01/2010
S1mas 127mm Catiotropic 03/09/2010

Compiled and submitted by William Paolini

Mars 2010 in a Turn

Rotating Sketch of Mars 2010
Sketch and Details by Frédéric Burgeot
3D Mapping and Video by Pascal Chauvet

Hi,

Here is a “movie” of Mars in motion. I made a planisphere from a dozen of my sketches of the red planet, and my friend Pascal Chauvet has made a movie with my planisphere. The sketches have been made in France, from December to February, with a 16” Newtonian, 350X of magnification with a binoviewer.

Best regards,
Fred Burgeot.

Mars Map 2010
Flat version of Mars Sketch
By Frédéric Burgeot

Mars – February 18, 2010

Mars - February 18, 2010
Mars – February 18, 2010
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Conditions were much improved over those of last Thursday for observing and sketching the planet Mars. The air column above me was mostly steady with temperatures just a degree above freezing.
Mars is now growing smaller in the eyepiece at 13.0″ of arc and 0.72 A.U. from us. 98% of the disk is illuminated and shining at visual magnitude -0.9. The central meridian of Mars was centered around 269° at the time of the sketch.
The north polar cap is clearly diminishing in size and visual brightness. In addition to the major features such as: Syrtis Major, Hellas, Mare Australe, Utopia/Casius, Mare Cimmerium and Mare Tyrrhenum; I was able to see clouds over the Elysium volcanic field and the albedo feature Nodus Alcyonis also appeared during moments of very steady seeing.
Before beginning this sketch I spent 30 minutes looking at Mars through red, green and light blue filters to assist with locating low contrast features.

Sketching:
The eyepiece sketch is the one on top in graphite pencil. The second color sketch was made indoors.
White sketching paper 8″ x 11″; HB graphite pencil, blending stumps for blending orange, brown and yellow Crayola pencil shavings.
Date 2/19/2010 – Time 3:00-3:35 UT
Telescope: 13.1 inch f/5.9 Dobsonian and 9mm eyepiece 218x
Temperature: 1°C (34°F)
clear, calm
Transparency 4/5
Seeing: Antoniadi III

Frank McCabe

Mars Near Opposition 2010

Mars - January 30, 2010
Mars – January 30, 2010
Sketch and Details by Serge Vieillard

Just after the opposition of 2010, opportunity to draw the planet finally arrives. It is necessary to compromise with a cloud covered sky these last months and a lack of certain spirit. It is necessary to force ones self to use the rare opportunities, the cold being particularly lively this year. But I decided not to let this nice night of ice on January 30th get away. When I took out the T250 (10”) and installed it on the equatorial plate the show began. The planet rides high up in the sky but the atmosphere is a bit turbulent. I contented myself to use 300x with an orange filter from time to time. Others magnifications of 500x were welcome for this tiny planetary disc of a little more than 14″ of arc.

Translation by Frank McCabe

AGCS 1014 Galaxy Cluster

AGCS 1014
AGCS 1014
Sketch and Details by Scott Mellish

AGCS 1014
Galaxy cluster
Octans
13/12/09
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5.0 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 15′
Magnification: 314x
Sky Quality Meter reading 21:72

White pen
White oil pencil
Soft white pencil

The far southern circumpolar constellation of Octans is not often considered rich in deep sky objects, at least not bright and pretty ones.

For the more adventurous observer there is a wealth of faint and fascinating galaxies scattered throughout the area to keep one engrossed for hours.

One such object is the remote Abell galaxy cluster AGCS 1014.
R.A: 22 23 47.9 DEC: -80 11 52.
This object is the most interesting of several extremely faint galaxy clusters that inhabit the region, and certainly the brightest one that is nearest the south celestial pole.

What is most rewarding with such little known objects is the fact that the observer may very well be one of only a handful of people on the planet to have seen it in a telescope.

Scott Mellish.