The Orion Nebula: A Two Season Field Sketch

M42 Rough Draft

M42 Field Sketch
Sketch and Details by Dave Riddle

A few months ago, I submitted a work-in-progress sketch of the Orion Nebula (and thanks again for all the kind comments from the ASOD community!).

I thought it might be of interest to submit one my field drawings used to make the (ahem) “finished” M42 portrait. This raw rendering has hastily scribbled notes around the border concerning aperture, magnification and weather conditions. I don’t see many rough draft drawings submitted to ASOD — you know, the ones with the ink smudged and the paper wrinkled by dew accompanied by bleary eyed late-night written notes that defy comprehension the next morning.

This composite drawing was made almost seven months apart from Panacea, Florida (with my 18″ reflector) and the Woodruff Boy Scout Camp outside of Blue Ridge, Georgia with the Atlanta Astronomy Club’s 24″ reflector. A series of drawings were made over two Orion “seasons” in an attempt to get a final, presentable drawing. And I feel I have a long way to go in knowing the remarkable nebula of Orion.

Dave Riddle

Stand Alone Crater

Eratosthenes Crater

Eratosthenes Crater
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Crater Eratosthenes rests on the boundary between the Sea of Showers and the northwestern extension of the Sea of Islands known as the Seething Bay. This crater is a magnificent stand alone crater. It is 58 kilometers across and nearly 3.7 kilometers deep. Eratosthenes began as a small mountain size rock impacting the moon at the end of the Apennine mountain range onto the mare basalt. This event occurred 3.15 billion years ago and defines the beginning of the Eratosthenian period. Other well known craters forming at about the same time include Langrenus and Bullialdus.
Eratosthenes is a regal feature when illuminated with the terminator nearby. Its terraced inner walls, irregular rubble strewn floor and central peaks make it a most attractive sight in telescopes of all sizes. See for yourself at the next opportunity.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper 9”x12”, white and black Conte’ pastel pencils and a blending stump. After scanning, Brightness was decreased (-4) and contrast increased (+4) using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 6 mm eyepiece 241x
Date: 8-11-2008, 1:15-2:30 UT
Temperature: 20° C (68° F)
Clear, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude 26.0 °
Lunation 9.8 days
Illumination 72.3 %

Frank McCabe

Sting Like a Butterfly

M6

M6 – The Butterfly Cluster
Sketch and details by Rony De Laet

One of the binocular highlights of Scorpius is M6, the Butterfly Cluster. This bright open cluster forms a splendid duo with M7. These two bright – naked eye – clusters were known since antiquity. While they can be squeezed in a single field of view, I rather prefer to dedicate a single sketch to each one of this brilliant duo.

M6 can be found at the tail of the Scorpius at 5° north of Lambda Scorpii. In a pair of binoculars, the cluster appears 15’ wide. A dozen stars are visible with direct vision. Averted vision can reveal another 15 stars. The binocular low power does not make it easy to distinguish the individual stars in this dense packed cluster. So take all the time you need to study M6 in detail. The lucida of the cluster, at the edge of the eastern wing of the butterfly, is the orange variable BM Sco. Don’t be surprised that your observation does not match my sketch, because BM Sco can fluctuate between mag 5.8 and 8.0. The Butterfly Cluster is 1600 l-y away. Its true size is estimated at 14 l-y.

Site : Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
Date : July 25, 2008
Time : around 22.15UT
Binoculars : TS 15×70 Marine
FOV: 4.4°
Filter : none
Mount : Trico Machine Sky Window
Seeing : 2,5/5
Transp. : 4/5
Sky brightness : 21.00 magnitudes per square arc second near zenith (SQM reading).
Nelm : 6.4
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with Photo Paint, based on a raw pencil sketch.

(Note: if the sketch does look too dark on your monitor, try to darken the room.)

Longomontanus and Environs

Longomontanus and Environs

Longomontanus and Environs
Sketch and Details by Richard Handy

Sketch of Longomontanus and environs on November 25, 2005 4:42 am PST to 6:10 am PST.

Telescope: Meade 12″ SCT
234X (2X barlow with 26mm Plossl)

Seeing: Antoniadi III-IV and occasionally II.

Colongitude: 199.9 deg

Lunation: 23.48 days

Medium: White Conte’ on black Strathmore textured paper.

Sketch size: 17.5″ x 23.5″

The Virgo Cluster’s M87

M87

M87
Sketch by Wade V. Corbei

M87 is a fairly bright and easily located galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. Although I could not make out any detail per se in regards to this galaxy, the general shape and size was very evident.

This galaxy is surrounded by a fairly rich starfield, which adds to its beauty and contrast in the inky blackness of the sky.

While observing this galaxy, I noticed a few larger, out-of-focus stars to the N and E-S-E of M87. I also noted that these “stars” seemed to fade in and out with direct/averted vision. I thought maybe my eyes were getting tired, but I sketched them exactly as how I saw them…a little fuzzy.

After digitizing my sketch of M87, I did some checking on this galaxy. Now I am not too sure if these “fuzzy” stars may not have been smaller galaxies within the region/area. I will have to break out my atlases and see if I can confirm this to be the case ot not.

At any rate, here is my digitized rendition of M87 as it appeared to me.

Crater Maurolycus

Crater Maurolycus

Crater Maurolycus
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

This is a notable crater around the twentieth day of lunation as the setting sun shadows begin to crawl across the crater floor to the east. The large size (115 km.), central peaks on a flat floor and high terraced walls identify this ancient (Nectarian period) crater as a walled plain impact. The east wall rises steeply above the floor 4.2 kilometers. Part of a previous large crater juts out from under Maurolycus to the south. Central peaks casting shadows were seen north of the center point on the crater floor. The floor is mostly flat and smooth. In addition the floor is not believed to be lava flooded and in the October 2007 issue of Sky and Telescope, Chuck Wood describes a hypothesis that it may be covered with fluidized ejecta from basin formation. The problem with this notion as he points out is that basin formation ended before the Maurolycus forming event occurred. Among the many similar craters in the southern highlands this is a crater that truly stands out.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper 9”x12”, white and black Conte’ pastel pencils and a blending stump. After scanning, Brightness was decreased (-4) and contrast increased (+4) using Microsoft Office Picture Manager.

Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian and 6 mm eyepiece 241 x
Date: 7-23-2008, 5:45-7:10 UT
Temperature: 20° C (68° F)
Partly Cloudy, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Colongitude 154.2 °
Lunation 20.2 days
Illumination 76.3 %

Frank McCabe