The Trapezium and Other Bright Stars of the Orion Nebula
Sketch and Details by Janis Romer
Janis wrote:
January, 1983. Temple University Night Owl, 17 1/2″ Dob. One of those Coulter mirrors*.
You will notice I have not included any of the smaller stars. I was using stars only as reference points for the nebula and simply ignored them. I’ve been tempted to go back and add them in, but decided I liked it better just the way I originally made it, warts and all.
Sketching:
Conte pastel pencils (white, blended greens) on black pastel paper.
*Note: James A. Braginton (Jacobsen), the owner/operator of Coulter Optical (deceased) was the first manufacturer of commercial Dobsonian telescopes. The Odyssey 2 (17.5” f/4.5) debuted in January of 1982. Nearly all of them were made in a small shop in Idyllwild, California. The early ones had well figured mirrors and were very inexpensive. Finished mirror sets were also sold in good numbers. -Frank McCabe
That is a very striking sketch Janis, well done indeed. Interesting piece of history from Frank too. A great post.
Dale
A fabulous sketch of a difficult object. I’ve avoided even trying so far but you’ve inspired me to give it try this winter! You’ve captured the visual essence of M42 even without all the stars.
Dear Janis,
I’m the picture editor of Ciel et Espace magazine. We have an article on space drawing in our next issue. We saw you very nice M42 draw on this site.
Could you give the authorization to publish it and if you are agree, could you send me an High resolution version of it?
Best regards