A Labor of Love for Lulin

Comet Lulin

Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin
Sketch and Details by Martin McKenna

Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin

Before dawn on the morning of January 23rd 2009 I made my very first observation of comet C/2007 N3 Lulin. The reward took a long time in coming because I had been up before the Sun every single morning for several weeks in the hope of making an early observation of this exciting comet. However, due to clouds, severe air frosts, and dense fog the comet alluded me during this period. This morning I woke up just after 05.00 UT to a great clear sky. It was very cold and frosty with slippery ice on the ground but the sky was in good shape. I grabbed by camera, tripod, and 10x50mm binoculars (B50) and got prepared to track down the comet. Lulin was too low in the sky to see from home so I had to walk up to a hill which was several hundreds metres away. I glanced into the east and saw the bright stars of Scorpius and Libra. I spent 15 min’s scanning with B50 without success and came to the conclusion that I really needed something more powerful for a proper look.

I decided to go back home and get the 8.5″ F/7 dobsonian reflector but due to its weight I had to lift it in two sections. This involved four trips to get the rocker box and tube to my comet hunting location. After I took a few min’s to catch my breath I checked that the telrad was aligned then guided the scope into western Scorpius. I began a series of vertical sweeps while gradually working my way S into Libra. After a few min’s I found Lulin a few degrees below 38 Librae at 05.29 UT. This was my first new comet observation of 2009 and the 48th comet I have hunted down since I began many years ago so I was delighted!. I observed the comet for 30 min’s in the frigid conditions then brought the scope back home again which involved four more trips. When I entered the my back garden I realized that the comet was actually visible just above my fence in the SE so my previous trip was in vain. I got comfortable and began to study Lulin in comfort.

My immediate impression was that the comet was very bright. It struck me just how healthy and active the coma looked even at a casual glance. The coma was at least 7′ in dia with a very intense white-coloured and disk-shaped central condensation with star-like false nucleus at centre. The outer coma was an obvious green colour. On several occasions I seen at least one jet within the coma pointing to the S. The anti-tail was very faint and elusive and required good dark adaption and averted vision. I noticed that it didn’t point directly towards the Sun but slightly to the W of S which is something I have not seen on images or in other reports. By this stage the background sky in the FOV was grey and hazy. I had to move the scope in various directions to pick out the faint details so I’m not 100% certain about what I saw. I found the colourless anti-tail to be at least 20′ long but I suspected it to be much longer. The gas/ion tail was much brighter and pointed in a generally S direction. To me this tail was green and sported a smooth profile and seemed to broaden with distance away from the coma much like a search beam. I could easily see the tail for a minimum of 1 degree but again I’m sure it’s much longer that this. Seeing both tails at the same time was quite a treat!

Despite the very poor quality of my binoculars I was still able to find the comet easily. I also tried very carefully to detect it with the naked eye but I just couldn’t convince myself that it was visible. However, I suspect that with excellent sky conditions the first naked eye observations will be reported very soon. As for a magnitude estimate, I didn’t really make one because I was trying to ferret out the details within the tail but based on the ease of which I could see the coma in the scope I would say approx mag +6.5, give or take a mag or so on either side. I think this comet could very well put on a good show in Feb as along as it continues to brighten. I will be watching Lulin every clear morning for now on. I ended the night with a mug of tea and watched the twilight arch grow. It was 07.15 UT before I finally left the comet alone to continue it’s journey towards Earth.

Clear skies

Martin McKenna, Maghera, N. Ireland.

Two of the Solar System Giants

Jupiter and Saturn

Planets Jupiter and Saturn
Sketch and Details by Janis Romer

Janis wrote:
“6/11/86, 9pm – midnight. Temple University’s Ambler Campus Celestron-14. I was so busy drawing that I entirely forgot to record eyepieces and observing conditions.”

This splendid pair of color pastel sketches captures many of the main attractions of Jupiter and Saturn as seen at the eyepiece in late spring of 1986. At that time Saturn was in the southwestern sky while Jupiter was in the southeast. – Frank McCabe

M42 Inverted

M42 inverted

M42, the Great Nebula of Orion
Sketch and Details by Serge Vieillard, translation by Frank McCabe

M42 uninverted

M42 before sketch inversion
Sketch by Serge Vieillard

Inverted sketch of M-42

It was January 3, 2009, on a beautiful and cold (- 7°C) evening in Royal Port (78) and I was with the buddies of the club. The crescent moon was bright and interfered somewhat with the observation. However, I want to try out the technique of color application by what I call filters interferential. M42 passes to the meridian line and lends itself magnificently to the test.
T400mm-c (Obsession Telescope) is equipped with Ethos 13mm ocular. A first vision without filter makes it possible to place with the lead pencil the star field and the various luminous zones of nebula. Then the use of a filter OIII makes the object more filamentous and accentuates the thinner extensions. These additional details and these appreciations are drawn with the purple pencil. (Upon inversion this will provide the green shades commonly see at the eyepiece)
Lastly, the filter H-beta radically changes the vision into literally revealing invisible zones under the current terms, like the broad wing on the left of the drawing and the fine line wing which borders its green neighbor, here completely extinct by the filter. On the other hand M43 is almost invisible with the OIII whereas it is detached well with H-beta. These additional details are drawn with the green pencils which reveal the reds and pinks at the eyepiece after inversion.
After passage into negative and treatment of the colors, one obtains this result which I describe as L, R (H-beta), V (OIII).

A Great Galaxy

M31

The Great Galaxy of Andromeda
Sketch and Details by Robert Gudański, text by Rich Handy

This beautiful sketch of the Great Galaxy of Andromeda, M31 was created by Robert Gudański. Hints of the dust bands of this huge spiral can clearly be seen in Robert’s excellent rendition. M31 is close to two million light years away, yet despite this distance, it can be readily seen by the naked eye.

Sketch Details:

Galaxy M31
Synta 8″ dob
LVW 22
Stepnica, Poland
23.12.2008
Robert Gudański

Saturn at the Beginning of 2009

Saturn with moons

Saturn with moons at the beginning of 2009
Sketch and Details by Carlos E. Hernandez

I made an observation of Saturn on the first day of the new year (January 1, 2009) at 07:30 U.T. using my 9-inch (23-cm) F/13.5 Maksutov-Cassegrain at 163x and 344x under clear and steady seeing conditions (S: 7/10, T: 5/6). It was exciting and strange to observe the ringed planet with such thin rings.

My wide field observation made at 163x depicts Saturn at the center with five satellites visible. The satellites, from following to proceeding, are Titan (8.4m), Enceladus (11.7m), Dione (10.4m), Rhea (9.8m), and Iapetus (11.1m).

A digital observation made using Photoshop CS3.

Saturn

Saturn at the beginning of 2009 under higher magnification
Sketch and Details by Carlos E. Hernandez

At a higher magnification (344x) Saturn exhibited detail over its globe. The following is a description of the visible regions of the planet;

South Polar Region (SPR) was dark to dusky (3-4/10) with a dark (3/10) central core.
South Temperate Zone (STZ) was shaded to bright (6-7/10) and mottled.
South Equatorial Belt (SEB) appeared dark to dusky (3-4/10) with a thin, bright (7/10) zone over its center.
Equatorial Zone (EZ) appeared bright (7/10) with no detail visible within.
Ring Shadow (RS) appeared very dark (2/10) and thin
North Tropical Zone (NTrZ) appeared shaded to bright (6-7/10).
North Equatorial Belt (NEB) appeared dusky (4/10) and thin.
North Temperate Zone (NTZ) appeared shaded (6/10)
North Polar Region (NPR) appeared dark to dusky (3-4/10)

The rings appeared dusky (4/10) without any detail visible over them.

A digital observation made using Photoshop CS3.

Carlos Hernandez

Returning to the Great Nebula

M42

The Great Nebula of Orion, M42
Sketch and Details by Robert Ignisdei

After long period of my inactivity, I’ve come back to sketching. It has been caused by changing my astronomical equipment.So now, I want to present you my new sketch of The Great Orion Nebula from 8” Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. It is not so impressive like my former sketches from 12” newton, but lot of details such as a delicate fibres of gas and dust are still visible.

In general, The Orion Nebula was one of my first object, which attract my attention., has becomed a beloved, often observed nebula, observed very attentively, carefully and closely. It is always a great pleasure for me to watch it, to photograph it and finally to sketch this magnificent wonder of our a starry sky.

Yours sincerely,
Robert

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Object Name : The Great Orion Nebula (Ignisdei)
Object Type: Nebulae/emission/reflection
Location: Poland/ Oborniki/suburbia
Date: January 2009
Equipment: MEADE 203/SC EMC , UB”, SWAN 2″ 40mm

The Sea of Crisis at Full Moon

Mare Crisium

Mare Crisium
Sketch and Details by Aleksander Cieśla, text by Rich Handy

This superbly drawn sketch of Mare Crisium by Aleksander Cieśla shows that the 638 Km
Nectarian aged Sea, even during Full Moon, still displays details such as its platform
massifs, isolated mesa like formations, and its circular scarps that identify it
as a Multi Ring Basin.

Sketch Details

The Fullmoon.

Object: Moon – Mare Crisium
Scope: Schmidt-Cassegrain 5” + Speers-Waler 7,4mm
Filter: Moon&SkyGlow
Place: Poland, Wroclaw – near city center
Weather: Good. Seeing 7/10. Light Pollution.
Date: 12 January 2009
Technique: White pastel crayons on black paper
Tooling: Contrast and gamma levels only

Hubble’s Variable Nebula NGC 2261

Hubble’s Variable Nebula

Hubble’s Variable Nebula NGC 2261
Sketch by Kiminori Ikebe, text by Frank McCabe

As can be seen in Kiminori Ikebe’s excellent sketch, the Hubble variable nebula is an example of a cometary reflection nebula associated with a bright protostar known as R Monocerotis. R Monocerotis is a large, young, hot binary surrounded by a close in orbiting dust and molecular gas cloud that is common to stars that are massive and entering the main sequence. Beyond the close in orbiting gas and dust is a larger, empty paraboloid shaped gas and dust cloud we see as the visible nebula with R Mon. occupying the vertex. This region extends out nearly 1 light year from the illuminating protostar. The nebula variability is due to shadows cast upon on the visible nebula created by irregularities in density of the orbiting inner gas and dust clouds which are cutting off some starlight. Variability can be detected in time intervals of weeks and months. It is fascinating to watch the shape and brightness of NGC 2261 as it varies over time. The nebula measures 2′ x 4′ in size and can change by 2 magnitudes or more in brightness.

Sketching:

Date: 2002.12.14 02:26

Telescope 32 cm. at 150x

Object Location: Constellation Monoceros

R.A.: 6h 39.2m Dec. : +08: 44′

Sketching Location: Kyushu, Japan

Ancient, Hammered, and Crushed

Wilhelm

Crater Wilhelm West of Tycho
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Last evening I was experiencing clear yet cold conditions for sketching. With skies expected to remain clear until after midnight and the moon high in the southern sky I chose a sketching target near the terminator just west of Tycho and north of Longomontanus. This region is part of the ancient highland crust of the moon and many of the craters here are very old, battered and partly hidden by younger impacts. I centered this sketch on Wilhelm (108 km.) a Pre-Nectarian crater that is somewhat difficult to trace on its western wall with several 20 km. craters there crushing the rim. Multiple impacts hammering on the east floor along a ridge was clearly evident. Immediately to the south of Wilhelm the remains of crater Montanari (77km.) could be seen. All parts of the south wall of this crater are hidden by layers of impacts all the way to Longomontanus (not in the sketch). I also included in this sketch to the west of Wilhelm the third Pre-Necterian crater Lagalla (85km.). Again most of the south wall is beaten down.

In the lighting provided by proximity to the terminator this was a rewarding area of the moon to observe and sketch. I stopped when my fingers went numb after 4 short breaks to warm up. It was a beautiful night to observe the moon as long as you were dressed for the cold.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: White CPP sketching paper, 9”x 12”, HB and 4B charcoal pencils, a blending stump, gum and pink pearl erasers. After scanning, Brightness was slightly decreased (-2) and contrast increased (+2) using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 6mm eyepiece 241x
Date: 1-6-2009 1:30 – 2:50 UT
Temperature: -8° C (17° F)
clear, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Co-longitude: 26.8°
Lunation: 9.55days
Illumination: 67.1 %
Phase: 70°

Frank McCabe