Supernova SN 2011fe in Messier 101

sn2011fe in Messier 101
SN 2011fe in Messier 101

Here is a sketch of the unusually bright supernova that appeared last August 24th in the Pinwheel Galaxy (M 101) in Ursa Major. SN 2011fe is now at its maximum around magnitude 10 and it is very easy to see in my 120mm refractor, but it was also easy with an 80mm refractor (I estimated magnitude 10.3 on Sept. 4th and 10.0 on 6th). In contrast, as I am observing with moderate light pollution and M 101 is low, the galaxy itself is barely visible and I only can see the central region with effort. SN 2011fe is a nearby type Ia supernova and the brightest one since 1987. 2011 is being a great year for supernova observers!

Sketch: 2HB graphite pencil on white paper, scanned and processed with Photoshop CS3
Object Name: Supernova SN 2011fe in M 101
Object Type: Galaxy and supernova
Location: Asturias, Spain
Date: September 4th, 2011
Instrument: 120mm f/8,3 refractor + Hyperion 13mm (77x)
NELM: around 5.2, moderate light pollution

Regards,
Diego González

Messier 24

Messier 24
Messier 24

Dear ASOD,

i will send my newest sketch from the Messier 24. This sketch is a montage of many field of view-sketch.

Object: M 24 Sgr
Type: Open Cluster
Date: 2011.08.19-21.
Location: Báránd, Hungary
Equipment: 120/920 Newton
Magnification: 36x
Media: white paper, ballpen, jelly pen, graphite, invert.

Clear sky!
Kovács Gergő

Peppered with Sunspots

Sunspots - September 1, 2011
Sunspots - September 1, 2011

Object Type : Sunspots
Location : Montreal, Canada
Date: September 1rst 2011
Media: HB pencils and blending stump on white acid-free sketch paper. The sketch was scanned and treated with GIMP software.
The observation was made using a 130mm Newtonian reflector and a 25X and 10X eyepiece. The sun was peppered with sunspots that day.

Jean Barbeau

Green Meteor, Great Surprise

Bolide
Bolide

Object Type: meteor
Location: Itajobi, SP, Brazil
21º10′ S
49º03′ W
+453m
Date: 08/07/2011
Time: 12h10 (U.T.)
Instrument: none (naked eye)
Media: 2B 0.5mm graphite pencil on white paper
Observer: Rodrigo Pasiani Costa

That night in July I was observing some deep sky objects through my 180mm reflector in my mother’s farm, about 3 miles from town (a small one, I should say). There was no light pollution or any light around, so that was a great place to set a scope. The sugar canes were still low so they wouldn’t be a hassle. The zenith naked eye limit magnitude was around 5.5, and the seeing was also great, ranging from one to two (Antoniadi). It was all perfect, but the wind started to blow tough, rising a lot of dust from the ground in a way I was forced to cover the telescope. It was still early, about 9 p.m. local time, and I was decided not to leave the farm yet, since I had arrived there only one hour and a half before. So I decided to pick up my binoculars, a 10×50, to glance at some objects in Scorpius. When I was walking toward the car, where the binoculars were in, I lifted my eyes and saw the brighest bolide I’ve ever seen. It lasted at least three seconds, and crossed more than 40 degrees in the dark sky, close to Centaurus and Crux. It was green, and exploded beautifully right before fading. I could not believe in such astonishing meteor, and stood still, glaring the sky for a brief moment, with the image in my mind. Then I sketched it before I forgot some precious detail, as you can see above. I hope you enjoy it, it was amazing.

Thanks for the opportunity to immortalize this moment.
Clear sky to everyone, Rodrigo.

A Gem Found in the Water Bearer

Messier 2
Messier 2

Object Type: Globular Cluster
Location: Fredericksburg, Texas, USA
Date: 08/02/11
Time: 02:05 CDT
Conditions: Clear; Seeing 3/5; Transparency 4/5
Equipment: 280mm SCT, 22mm EP
Medium: Graphite pencil and blending stump on white paper.
scanned and color inverted.

This evening was one of the best views I’ve had of this well-
resolved globular cluster. It’s in the constellation Aquarius
and is just about 37.5 k light years away from us with a
diameter of 175 light years containing some 150k stars.

Things are looking up,
John E.

The Blue Racquetball

NGC 6572
NGC 6572

Good morning, this is a ASOD submission:

Object Name: NGC 6572/Blue Racquetball
Object type: Planetary nebula
Location: Cittadella (Italy)
Date: June 27, 2011
Media: graphite pencil, white paper, later inverted and colored in Gimp
Instrument: 120 mm achromatic refractor (f/8.3)
Eyepiece: Planetary HR 4 mm
Conditions: Clear with some light pollution

Best Regards,
Massimo Zecchin

A Jewel of the Southern Sky

NGC 6752
NGC 6752

Hello everyone,

There are few deep sky objects that are rarely matched to their impact through the eyepiece. When you first see them through the eyepiece, you lift your head for just one moment & think “Holy heck, did I just see that!”, and then rush back to the eyepiece .

NGC 6752 has to be one of those objects. This southern sky globular cluster in the constellation Pavo, is one cracker of a GC. A naked eye object, it is easily overlooked as it lies in a tremendously busy part of the sky, even though it is the third brightest globular cluster in the whole sky. My first look at it had me running around the place saying to folks “you gotta have a look at this through your scopes!”

Not only is it a bright GC, but it is jam-packed with lines, arcs, loops, hollows and figures made up of stars. One particularly lovely alignment of stars seems to trace a large looping love heart shape. My sketch shows it on the left side of the main ball. Sketch was done in just over an hour.

This GC is one big sucker. The mistiness that reaches out from the core is very expansive. The number of resolved stars is wicked. This GC’s reach was huge, even though transparency of the sky wasn’t brilliant.

This is one target that I would really love to have a squiz at through a monster dob. I might even run the risk of trashing my night vision with it this way, J.

I can only hope that this sketch evokes some of the immense beauty of this cluster. It is just WOW!

Alex.

Object: NGC 6752, globular cluster in Pavo
Scope: 17.5” f/4.5
Gear: Unitron 16mm Konig, 125X, 33.6’ AFOV
Date: 2nd July, 2011
Location: Wiruna, Ilford, Australia
Media: White pastel, white charcoal pencil & white ink on A4 size black paper.