Astronomy Sketch of the Day – Page 232 – Drawings and sketches of an astronomical nature

Asymmetrical Beauty

NGC 7640 Galaxy in Andromeda
Sketch and Details by Ferenc Lovró

NGC 7640 Galaxy in Andromeda

Ferenc Lovró wrote:
This object is a faint but still very spectacular spiral galaxy with an estimated brightness of about 12.3 m. As I almost never read or view pictures of the objects I want to observe (so the photos in my memory will not change the picture I really see with my own eyes). Because of its very asymmetrical shape I first thought that it must be an irregular galaxy, similar to the objects in Halton Arp’s compilation of peculiar galaxies. Even its core areas seemed to almost fall out of the galaxy itself. However, later on by examining astrophotographs it turned out that what I believed to be its core is in fact a bright foreground star and the real galactic core is in fact located in the brighter little densities near the “fake core”. At smaller magnification, the so far homogeneous arms start to show many details, especially with averted vision near the core. I measured its size as 4.5′ x 1′.

Location: Constellation Andromeda
R.A.23hrs. 22 min.
Dec. + 40° 54′
Date/Time: 2008, 11, 18 19:30 UT
Equipment: 12″ f/5 Newtonian
FOV: 23′ Magnification 167x
Seeing: 6/10 Transparency 3/5
Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Ferenc Lovró

That Rare Phenomenon

The Moon Occults Venus
Sketch and Details by Giorgio Bonacorsi

Hi astronomy sketchers,all o.k.? Today I made this sketch with very difficult (conditions) :Cold,strong wind and clouds and at the end,rain! But I don’t lost that rare phenomenon :Moon occulting Venus! The clouds covered the sky,the wind was very strong and cold, but I take my little Klevstov and made this sketch.I hope you like (it). I lost the Venus exit cause the clouds,but I see the planet at 6,30 p.m.for one second!
At next,clear sky.
Ciao,Giorgio.

Site:Pergola,Marche,Center Italy
Date:1December 2008
Moon phase:3,3 days,crescent
Instrument:Vixen Klevstov 110/1035
Eyepiece:Plossl 25mm
Magnification:44,4x
Seeing:Good,turbulence,very difficult drawing
Air:Cold,very strong wind.

The Beautiful Occurence

Venus just before Occultation by the Moon
Sketch and Details by Aleksander Cieśla

Sketch of the beautiful occurence. The Moon a few seconds before occulting Venus.

Sketch information:
Scope: Schmidt-Cassegrain 5” with Vixen LVW 13mm
Place: Poland, Wroclaw – near city center
Weather: Bad. Seeing 2/10. Light pollution. Clouds oncoming.
Date and time: 1st December 2008r. 5:15 PM (17:15)
Technique: Pencil with finger blur
Tooling: Scan and GIMP2 working.

Webmaster’s note: I’ve got a few days worth of excellent sketches of this wonderful occultation that I think you’ll all enjoy.

Jewel Vanishes and Appears Again

Occultation of Venus by the Moon
Sketch and Details by Deirdre Kelleghan

Meade LX 90 FL 2000mm
35mm eyepiece = 57X
Dec 1st 2008 – Greystones Co Wicklow Ireland
Freezing

Pastels/Conte on FineArt Pastel Velour Paper

15:35 – 17:10 approx too cold to time with any great regard

Venus was shining like a million dollar jewel in the early evening sky.
The young moon hung low in milky blue atmosphere, giant Jupiter watched the
visually stunning occultation unfolding below.

As it got darker more and more detail became visible on the crescent moon.
Between finishing the Venus vanishing sketch and the reemergence of Venus
I put as much lunar detail as possible in the time and under the conditions as I could.

The view as Venus reappeared and once again sparkled like a diamond stuck on the moon was breathtaking .
I quickly place the planet as accurately as I could and then continued to enjoy the view
along with my fellow observers, Michael, Philip, Aubrey, and Keith, awesome afternoon.

Deirdre Kelleghan
President
Irish Astronomical Society 1937 – 2007
Public Relations Officer IFAS
Oscail do Shuile D’iontas na Cruinne
Open Your Eyes to the Wonder of the Universe

String of Pearls

Arp 331, “The String of Pearls”
Sketch and Details by Jeff Young

Here’s something a bit off the beaten path: Arp 331, comprising a string of NGC galaxies in Pisces.

My sketch shows NGC383 in the center, with NGC380 and then NGC379 to the N. Somewhat dimmer are NGC385 and NGC384 to the S, with the averted-vision-only NGC386 in between (the dimmest one captured on the sketch). I missed NGC382 (which was too close to NGC383 to differentiate), and NGC388, which was too dim for my instrument and conditions.

Sketched 11/27/2008 from County Louth, Ireland,

as viewed through 16” Mak-Cass @ 150X; Pickering 8, NELM 5, SQM 20.4

Daler-Rowney HB Graphic pencil on white cartridge paper. Scanned and inverted in Photoshop.

Promise of a New Solar Cycle

The sunspots of Active Region 1007
Sketch and Details by Michael Rosolina

The Sun has been very quiet for months now as we are in solar minimum but there are signs that new Solar Cycle 24 is beginning. Active regions of a new solar cycle typically appear at high solar latitudes and have a polarity reversed from active regions of the old cycle.

The sunspots of Active Region 1007, rendered in this white light sketch, has these characteristics. It appeared at a high latitude and magnetograms revealed its reversed polarity. In addition, AR1007 was the fourth active region in a 30 day period to meet these requirements. Solar observers around the world are happily anticipating more activity in the coming weeks and months.

I used 15×70 binoculars equipped with Baader AstroSolar film filters to observe the Sun for this sketch. (Remember–NEVER look at the Sun directly–always use filters or telescopes specifically designed for solar observing) HB and 2B pencils were used for the sunspots and a blending stump was used to darken the solar limb. The template is a 100mm circle.

Object Name: The Sun/AR1007
Object Type: Active region sunspots
Location: Friars Hill, WV USA
Date: 2 Novenmber 2008

A Pearl Within It’s Shells

Planetary Nebula NGC 1514 in Taurus
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Planetary Nebula NGC 1514

The last time I examined this planetary on a not so transparent night with my 10″ scope and using an ultrablock filter, I was disappointed with the view. Last night that all changed. Between nightfall and 3 am local time the seeing and transparency was about as good as it gets in these parts. I used my largest scope to take advantage of the good seeing and rare transparency. NGC 1514 is a double shelled planetary nebula in the constellation of Taurus. The outer faint shell was not at all visible at the eyepiece. The brighter irregularly illuminated inner shell which is about 1.9′ across was easy and much enhanced by the filter and averted vision. The bright central star was clearly blue and is classified as a late O-type star. This star is believed to be a close, short period binary with an A-III type companion. The apparent magnitude of the central star is 9.5. This planetary was discovered by William Herschel 218 years ago this month.

Location: R.A. 4 hrs 9 min. 17 sec.
Dec. + 30° 46′ 33″

Sketching

Date and Time: 11-29-2008, 4:15-5:20 UT
Scope: 18” f/5 Dobsonian. 21 mm Hyperion eyepiece 109x, ultrablock filter,
8”x11” off-white recycled sketching paper, 2H, 2B, 6B graphite pencils, yellow crayola sketching pencils, blending stump, eraser shield, scanned and inverted, some star magnitude adjustments and background made after scanning using Microsoft Paint.
Temperature: -3°C (26°F), calm
Seeing: Pickering 8/10
Transparency: Above Average 4.5/5
nelm: 4.8

See You Next Time

The International Space Station and The Space Shuttle “Endeavour”
Sketch and Details by Aleksander Cieśla

International Space Station and Space Shuttle “Endeavour” about 1 hour and 14 minutes after separation.

Sketch information:
Scope: Schmidt-Cassegrain 5” with Antares W70 25mm
Place: Poland, Wroclaw – near city center
Weather: Good. Seeing 7/10. Light Pollution
Time & date: 28 november 2008. 5:01PM (17:01)
Technique: Pencil and finger blur
Tooling: Scan only

Isidorus and Capella

Lunar Impact Craters Isadorus and Capella
Sketch and Details by Eric Graff

Isidorus and Capella
Lunar Impact Craters
Parks Astrolight EQ6 • 6″ f/6 Newtonian Reflector
7.5mm Parks Gold Series Plössl + 2x Barlow • 240x
Field of View Not to Scale
15 November 2007 • 01:05-02:00 UT

On the northern shore of Mare Nectaris you will find an intriguing pair of smallish craters – Isidorus and Capella. Nearly intertwined, Isidorus measures 48 km in diameter, and Capella 49 km. The floor of Isidorus features a large craterlet, designated Isidorus A, but this feature was lost in deep shadow at the time of observation. On the south-preceding (sp) edge the large, shallow impact crater Isidorus F. Several odd-looking hills extend to the south of Isidorus.

Capella is a fascinating structure. Its walls overlap those of Isidorus and it is pierced by an impressive scar known as Vallis Capella, which extends from Isidorus B in the north, through Capella and onward toward the peculiar crater Gaudibert to the south. A significant promontory extends from the sp crater wall toward the center of the crater and parallel with Vallis Capella. The floor of Capella is rough and sports a prominent central peak with a crater on top, making it look a lot like a terrestrial volcano (didn’t know to look for this – must pay more attention next time).

Before Two Become One

NGC 2207 and IC 2163
Sketch by Eiji Kato, text by Frank McCabe

This remarkable sketch was made by Eiji Kato using a 47 cm. f/4 reflector and looking out to a distance measured to be 114 to144 million light years. These beautiful, large, interacting spiral galaxies are located in the constellation of Canis Major at R.A. 6 hrs.16 min.22 sec.; Dec. -21° 22′ 21”. The smaller of the two IC 2163 is about the size of our own Milky Way galaxy. Both members were discovered by John Herschel in 1835. Supernova hunters may be familiar with this pair since the brighter, larger member NGC 2207 has been the site of three supernovas in the past 33 years. The visual magnitudes of these galaxies are 12.2 (IC 2163) and 11.6 (NGC 2207). The nuclei of theses spirals are about 1.4′ of an arc apart. In time, galactic cannibalism will complete the merging of this pair.

Hubble Heritage Image from November of 1999 http://heritage.stsci.edu/1999/41/big.html