Astronomy Sketch of the Day – Page 234 – Drawings and sketches of an astronomical nature

Galaxy in a Cup

NGC 3887 in the constellation Crater
Sketch and Details by Eric Graff

NGC 3887 lies over 10.5° south and just over 1° east of NGC 3818. If you have an equatorial mount, the ten-degree southward adjustment might be the easiest way to reach this object quickly. If you prefer to star hop, you can either return to Theta Crateris to follow a line of widely spaced stars trending southward and slightly east: 3.4° SSE to Iota Crateris; 1.3° SSE to 6th magnitude HD 101369; 2.2° almost due south to 6th magnitude HD 101370; and finally 1.8° due east to NGC 3887. You might also consider a star-hop taking you through the double star H VI 115 and the galaxy NGC 3962 (nos. 8 and 9, below).

However you get here, the trip will be worth your trouble, as NGC 3887 is the brightest spiral galaxy in the constellation of Crater. This galaxy appears as a moderately sized amorphous glow of diffuse nebulosity in an attractive field of view. The faint field stars are arranged in a “V” like pattern with the galaxy nestled within the figure. NGC 3887 displays a brighter central region without a nucleus and a patchy outer halo somewhat suggestive of coarse spiral arm fragments. The view at 120x magnification reminds me of a smaller, fainter version of NGC 2403 in Camelopardalis.

NGC 3887 was discovered visually by William Herschel using a 18.7-inch reflector on December 31, 1785. It was catalogued as the 120th entry in the discoverer’s list of “Bright Nebulae.” Photographically, NGC 3887 is a beautiful object characterized by a small bright nucleus, a smooth oval-shaped bar with dark lanes and several knotty, branching spiral arms. The oval-shape of the central bar is atypical and it is only the presence of two thin straight dust lanes emerging from opposite sides of the nucleus. The largest HII regions (emission nebulae) have diameters of about 2″. Each of the two spiral arms may be traced for about 300° before disappearing. The arms are quite lumpy, exhibiting features much larger than typical star-forming regions and it is these features that trace the spiral arms beyond 180°. NGC 3887 lies at a distance of about 43 million light-years.

The Leo Three

The Leo Three
Sketch by Janis Romer, Details by Frank McCabe

Janis has rendered here an impressive sketch of the “Leo triplet” of galaxies in the constellation of the same name. The northern most member closest to the bottom of the drawing is NGC 3628. At approximately magnitude 9.9 visually, it was missed by Charles Messier but recorded by William Herschel in the spring of 1784. At 35 million light years distant it has an apparent diameter of 15 arc minutes. In an 18 inch telescope from good skies the dust lane bisecting this galaxy is clearly visible. The outer visible parts of this galaxy are distorted by gravitational interactions with the other two members of this group, namely M-65 and M-66. These two galaxies were discovered and recorded by Charles Messier in March of 1780 (incorrectly attributed to Pierre Mechain until recently corrected). M-65 the fainter of these two at magnitude 9.3 and western most (top left) in this sketch, is a tightly wound spiral with an apparent size of 8’ by 2’. M-66 the eastern most (top right) galaxy in the sketch is dusty looking and brighter at magnitude 8.9. This less symmetrical spiral measures 8’ by 3’ in apparent dimensions. Values for the distances of these last two galaxies vary from 22 million light years to 35 million. Measurements taken using Cepheid variables as standard measuring candles find the distance to these galaxies at about 35 million light years (11 mega parsec).

This sketch was made using a Criterion 8” f / 8 Newtonian reflector telescope

A Tale of Two Tails

Comet Machholz (C/2004 Q2)
Sketch and Details by Jeremy Perez

Observation Notes:

Well, the weather and my schedule hasn’t been cooperating too much lately for getting out under the stars with more than a pair of binoculars. Tonight, the clouds parted for a while, and the moon had yet to rise, so I took a look for Machholz at 10:30 pm. As the days go by, it keeps getting brighter. I’m still not sure how to go about estimating brightness for fuzzy things like this. But I could make out the thin ion tail with averted vision to the east-northeast, and what seemed to be a widening of the coma that would be the dust tail the south. I worked out a digital sketch over the course of 3 trips outside. I wasn’t dressed for the occasion, so I didn’t want to get everything put together for a pencil sketch. I worked up the sketch in Photoshop. I don’t think this is the way I’d like to do things very often. It doesn’t seem as precise, and it’s bad for dark adaptation.

Anyway, after putting it together, I checked in Orion’s The Sky, the only thing I had to fix was a slight adjustment to the position of 2 stars on the east side of the sketch. I don’t know about anyone else that observes comets or asteroids, but I get a charge out of plotting its position at a specific time, and the having it confirmed neatly by the planetarium software. The position of Machholz worked out to RA 3h 53m / Dec +07ï¿½ 21′. I labeled the major stars that surrounded it. Based on the angular separation of those stars, I would estimate the portion of the coma visible to me was 19′ in diameter, while the ion tail extended 50′. Under direct vision I still pick up the faintest hint of green. I haven’t found any recent photos of the comet to verify that I’m seeing what I think I’m seeing, so if somebody sees anything fishy about this, let me know.

Subject Comet Machholz (C/2004 Q2)
Classification Comet
Position [RA 3:53 / Dec +07:21]
Size ~19′ x 23′
Brightness ~4
Date/Time 12/30/04 – 10:30 PM
Observing Loc. Flagstaff, AZ – Home
Instrument Orion Worldview Binoculars 10 x 50
Eyepieces/Mag. 10X
Seeing Unrecorded
Transparency Mag 5.8

Honoring a Great Polish Astronomer

Lunar crater Copernicus
Sketch and Sketch Details by Krzysztof Rajda

This sketch of the classic lunar landmark Copernicus, was submitted by the Polish
amateur astronomer Krzysztof Rajda. His superb drawing captures the crater’s
complex terracing and central peaks beautifully.

Sketch information:
Obiect name:crater Copernicus
Scope:ATM truss dobs 300/1500
Eyepieces:Antares Plossl-6mm
Place:Poland,Brzeźno
Seeing:3/5
Date:07.11.2008r.
Technique:Pencil,graphics GIMP2
Amateur astronomer:Krzysztof Rajda(Poland)

Galaxy Cluster Choreography

Stephan’s Quintet
Sketch and Details by Dale Holt

Stephan’s Quintet

Perhaps as a follow on to Jeff Young’s superb NGC 7331 “Deer Lick with fleas” My own rendition of Stephan’s Quintet might fit well?

On the 2nd of October this year I used my observatory 14″ F5 Newt with Watec 120n video camera sketching from a 9″ B&W monitor, using a graphite pencil plus blending stump on standard cartridge paper to capture the enigmatic Stephan’s Quintet.
The image was scanned and turned to a negative to give a more realistic and pleasing view. I caught up with this exquisite galaxy cluster following some wonderful shared visual studies with my 20″ at the Kelling Heath Autumn Equinox star party in Norfolk, England the previous week.

A Whale of a Galaxy in Cetus

M77 (NGC 1068)
Sketch, Sketch Details and Note by Marek Plonka

Marek Plonka of Silesia Poland submitted this beautiful sketch of M77 (NGC 1068) and it’s stellar companions in the constellation Cetus. M77, at a distance of nearly 60 million light years, is one of the most distant galaxies in the Messier Catalog. The galaxy is huge, over 100,000 light years in diameter, making it larger than our own Milky Way Galaxy.

Sketch details:

Object name: M77 (NGC 1068) spiral galaxy
Scope: Skywather dobs 1200/200 + SWA 15mm
Place: Poland, Silesia, Skrzyszów
Seeing: 8/10 Transparency: 4/5
Date and time: 06.11.2008r, 9:00PM (21:00)
Technique: Pencil
Author: Marek Płonka (Poland, Silesia)

Note: I’ve always used only pencil. I’ve never corrected my sketches using computer software. I use GIMP only to improvement brightness, contrast, resize and crop images.

Only a Waning Gibbous Moon in Mind

Waning Gibbous Moon
Sketch and Details by Deirdre Kelleghan

Waning Gibbous Moon
Bray, Co Wicklow Ireland
January 28th 2008
200mm dob/FL 1,200mm/25mm eyepiece/48X
Lunation 19.60 days 01:35 – 03:42
Pastels and conte on black paper

I enjoy doing full phase lunar sketches, pastels help bring out the subtle grey tones.
In the time it takes to do these drawings there is nothing else in my mind, the concentration is
all consuming. The moon is a wonderful teacher and a great place to play.

Dee

—
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

Deer Lick with Fleas

NGC7331 and 3 Fleas (7335, 7337, 7340)
Sketch and Details by Jeff Young

NGC7331 and 3 Fleas (7335, 7337, 7340)

galaxy group in Pegasus

sketched from County Louth, Ireland

as viewed through 16” Mak-Cass @ 150X

These guys are a particular favourite of mine — even when transparency isn’t great there’s NGC7331 to look at, and when the skies are better one can hunt for the Fleas. They’re also a good measure of nearby Stephan’s Quintet — if you can’t see any of the fleas you’re unlikely to be able to pull in the Quintet.

This sketch captures 3 of the 4 fleas; the one I missed (NGC7336) is between the upper flea and the row of 3 stars above it. The largest Flea near the centre was the easiest of the three — the other two required a look at 335X to distinguish from very dim stars.

Derwent HB Sketching pencil on 150gsm cartridge paper. (I’ve since moved to a slightly softer pencil as I found Derwent’s HB too hard.)

Craters Cardanus & Kraftt with the flooded plain Eddington

Craters Cardanus & Kraftt with the flooded plain Eddington
Sketch and Details by Dale Holt

The upper crater of the pair is Cardanus named
after Girolamo Cardano 1501-1576 an Italian
mathematician.
This is a crater 49 Km in diameter, terraced with a
small central peak. Below is Krafft named after a
German Astronomer Wolfgang Ludwiig Krafft 1743-
1814.
This is a crater of 51Km diameter with a flooded
floor. To the lower right we see the bright illuminated
rim of the flooded plain Eddington named in memory
of the Cambridge astrophysicist Arthur S Eddington
1882-1944.
This sketch was made using black & white hard
Conte pastels on black Daler Rowney paper with
bright highlights made with a Derwent watercolour
pencil.

This image and caption appeared in the LDAS Newsletter 2008-10.doc
Permission to use this image was given by the artist and author Dale Holt

Sublime and Glorious

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