Bejeweled Ink Spot

NGC 6520 and Barnard 86

NGC 6520 and Barnard 86
Sketch and Details by Kiminori Ikebe

A dark nebula telescopically easy and an beautiful overlapping open cluster. A photograph taken by a 200mm lens shows a small dark nebula and a compact open cluster at the southern edge in addition to M8 and M20. At 110x B86 is quite clear. The field is lit up by the Milky Way stars but a dark triangular shape region to the west of NGC 6520 is quite conspicuous. It appears as if the area is literally painted black and is called the “Ink Spot.” A line of stars along the base of this triangle. A hint of a long dark nebula to the southwest of NGC 6520. This is not as conspicuous as B86; not visible with direct vision. NGC 6520 is beautiful, compact, and “lively.” Bright stars are scattered across. Faint stars are concentrated in some areas.

Planet Eight

Neptune

Neptune
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Currently Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun with the demotion of Pluto to minor planet status. Neptune is slightly more massive than planet Uranus but is less voluminous than the seventh planet. Along with Uranus, Neptune is an ice giant. Neptune’s atmosphere contains much hydrogen and helium as well as ices of ammonia, methane and water. Much of Neptune’s blue color is due to measurable amounts of methane.
The discovery of Neptune was done by calculation. Neptune was co-discovered by John Crouch Adams beginning in 1843 and independently by Urbain LeVerrier in 1846. It was the perturbance of the orbit of Uranus in its revolution about the sun that led these astronomers to predicting the location of plant eight in the sky.
Currently the planet Neptune is in the constellation of Capricornus and is 29.1 astronomical units from earth. Its angular size is small at 2.3 arcseconds and at magnitude 7.8 it is not visible to the naked eye as Uranus (mag. 5.8) is from a dark sky site. It is positioned in northeastern Capricornus near several bright stars and therefore is easily located. Neptune reaches opposition in just a few weeks and makes a great target for any size telescope. If your scope can reach magnitude 13.5 try for Neptune’s moon Triton which can be found using the on-line Sky and Telescope’s Triton Tracker and a good high power ocular.

Sketching:
9”x11” white sketching paper; 4B, HB graphite pencils, light brown drawing pencil for Neptune and a blending stump; Scanned and inverted after cutting the sketch from the drawing paper and placing it against a brown paper background.

Scope: 10” f/5.7 Dobsonian: 24 mm widefield eyepiece 60x and 12 mm eyepiece 121x
Date and Time: 7-24-2008, 5:50-6:30 UT
Seeing: Pickering 7/10
Transparency: partly cloudy, Average 3/5
NELM: 4.3

Frank McCabe

Milky Way Sights

Lagoon Nebula and Vicinity

Lagoon Nebula and Vicinity
Sketch and Details by Carlos Hernandez

My South Florida weather cleared temporarily on July 30, 2008 (04:00 U.T.) and allowed me to tour the Milky Way with my Oberwerk 11 x 56 binoculars. Many targets were visible but the Lagoon Nebula (M8) and Trifid Nebula (M20), as well as M21 and M28 caught my eye. The Lagoon Nebula (M8, NGC 6523) was visible as an elongated nebulosity which included clumps of stars (NGC 6530). The Trifid Nebula (M20, NGC 6514). The open cluster M21 was visible north of the Trifid Nebula and M28 towards the east (left).

A digital rendering made using Photoshop CS3.

Carlos

Sagitta’s Stellar Nexus

M71

M71
Sketch and Details by Ernest Shekolyan

Hi!

That is my picture of M71 (globular cluster NGC 6838 in Sagitta 8.4m, 7.2′).
The sketch was done 27 July 2006 at village Ponizovka, South Crimea (Ukraine) under very dark sky (visual limit for naked eye was better 6.1m). 10″ 1:5.6 Dob, 6 mm UWA (Synta), 230x, FOV: 20 ang. minutes, graphite pencil, white paper, then photocopy + level correction, crop and inverting in ACDSee.

Sincerely yours, Ernest Shekolyan

Riches of the Star Queen

M16

M16 – The Eagle Nebula
Sketch and Details by Eric Graff

Object Name: Messier 16
Also Known As: NGC 6611, Cr 375, Mel 198, C1816-120, IC 4703, Sh2-49, Eagle Nebula, Star Queen Nebula
Object Type: Open Cluster + Emission Nebula + Dark Nebula
Constellation: Serpens (Cauda)
Right Ascension (2000.0): 18h 18m 45.0s
Declination (2000.0): –13° 47′ 54"
Magnitude: 6.0
Size: Cluster 21′; Nebula 35′ x 28′
NGC Description: Cl, at least 100 st L & S
Discovery: Philippe Loys de Chéseaux, 1746

Date/Time: 4 July 2008 • 04:20 to 06:45 UT
Location: Oakzanita Springs (4,010 ft. elevation), San Diego Co., California, USA
Telescope: Parks Astrolight EQ6 • 6" f/6 Newtonian Reflector
Eyepiece/Magnification: Parks 15mm Gold Series Plössl • 60x • 52′ FoV
Filters: Lumicon OIII
Conditions: Clear, calm, 62°F
Seeing: Pickering 4-5
Transparency: NELM 6.3; TLM 14.0

The Eagle Nebula (or the Star Queen Nebula, if you prefer) is one of the most spectacular "Great Nebulae" in the sky – in photographs, anyway. Unlike other emission nebulae on Messier’s list (M8, M17, M20, and M42-43), the Star Queen does not willingly yield her secrets to the visual observer. In fact, she puts up a rather tenacious fight.

The sky was not quite wholly dark when I centered my scope on M16 soaring above the brink of Oakzanita Peak. The nebulosity itself was not visible yet, but I immediately set to work sketching the visible members of the bright and easy open cluster invested in the nebula. By the time this task was completed the sky had darkened completely as the billowing clouds and star-studded reaches of the Milky Way cast their net above the entire eastern horizon. In the eyepiece gossamer veils of tenuous nebulosity draped lazily over the sparkling star cluster like a lumpy, disheveled cloak.

The best view in my scope occurs at 60x magnification with an OIII filter. The nebulosity is complex and the hazy morass dances with subtle possibilities, but getting that detail onto paper was challenging; the region around the famous "Pillars of Creation" was particularly difficult in this regard. Once I was satisfied that I had done all I could with the central portion of the nebula I was able to pick up faint, nearly featureless extensions on nearly every side by placing the cluster just outside the field of view and sweeping slowly from side to side (N-S or E-W; kind of like looking for the tail of a comet).

Globular Cluster NGC 6934 in Delphinus

NGC 6934

NGC 6934
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Globular cluster NGC 6934 is an 8.9 magnitude ancient sphere of thousands of stars in the constellation of Delphinus. It is situated in a nice star rich region of the constellation at R.A. 20 hrs. 34 min. and Dec. +7° 24’. This globular can easily be located by star hopping. Begin at Beta Delphini and move through and past Eta Del. to Epsilon Del. Now extend this arc distance an equivalent length beyond Epsilon Del. And you will arrive at NGC 6934. To my eyes the diameter appeared to be about 5 arcmin. At 52,000 light years most of the brightest stars of this globular fall between 14th and 15th magnitude. I was able to detect granularity at the core but a scope larger than 10 inches would be best for resolving stars in this cluster. This globular is worth a look.

Sketching:
9”x11” white sketching paper; 6B, 4B, HB graphite pencils and a blending stump;
Scanned and inverted; brightness of some stars adjusted with MS Paint.
Scope: 10” f/5.7 Dobsonian: 24 mm widefield eyepiece 60x and 12 mm eyepiece 121x
Date and Time: 7-23-2008, 7:00-7:30 UT
Seeing: Pickering 7/10
Transparency: Average 3/5
NELM: 4.4

Frank McCabe

Draco’s Four Pack

Hickson 80

Hickson 80
Sketch and Details by Bill Ferris

Hickson 80: Galaxy Cluster (Draco) RA: 15h 59.3m / DEC: +65º 14′.0
Instrument: 18-inch Obsession

The four-pack of faint galaxies in my sketch comprise the compact galaxy cluster, Hickson 80. A pair of 14th magnitude stars stand separated by just 30″ near the center of the field. Hickson 80A and 80B, paired to the north, appear to mirror that stellar duo. Hickson 80A is the 15.7(B) magnitude sliver covering a 0′.8 by 0′.2 area and aligned roughly north-south. It is cataloged as 2MASX J15591912+6513579, according to the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED). Hickson 80B (=PGC 56590) is the tiny, 16.4(B) magnitude smudge just 30″ to the south. Hickson 80C lies an arcminute due west of 80A. It is a 16.1(B) magnitude galaxy cataloged as PGC 56572. The most challenging member of the quartet is 16.8(B) magnitude Hickson 80D. This faint little stinker resides 50″ southeast of Hickson 80C and is only visible with averted vision. You’ll find this collection banished to the far northern reaches of the heavens, in Draco.

Soaring Across the Solar Aviary

Sun H-Alpha

Sun (H-Alpha)
Sketch and Details by Ernest Shekolyan

Hi!

That is my picture of Sun on 7 May 2007 (13:40 msc). PST Coronado + 10 mm Super (Synta).
Interesting features: bird-like active chromispheric flash in center of solar disc and a number prominences on the limb. Graphite pencil, white paper, then photocopy and processing in ACDSee (coloring, soft, some additional manual drawing).

Sincerely yours, Ernest Shekolyan

Boattini’s Morning Reprise

C/2007 W1 (Boattini)

C/2007 W1 (Boattini)
Sketch and Details by Michael Rosolina

At present, there are two comets in the night sky that bear the name Boattini. One, C/2008 J1 (Boattini), is currently moving out of Cepheus and is visible all night long. The other, C/2007 W1 (Boattini), dipped below the horizon for northern hemisphere observers back at the end of May and did not reappear until the beginning of July. To see C/2007 W1, an observer had only a short time span as the comet rose with the constellation Cetus and was soon lost in the dawn glare.

My sketch shows how W1 Boattini appeared to me through my 15×70 binoculars on the morning of July 15th. I then was able to take advantage of clear weather and plot the comet’s position over the next two mornings as it traveled to the NNW through Cetus past the 4th magnitude star lambda Ceti.

The original sketch and position updates were done in the field on Strathmore sketch paper with a 2B pencil and blending stump. I then inverted the sketch after scanning, applied 5% blur, and added the text.

Like most comets, W1 Boattini was easiest to see from dark, moonless skies with good transparency. It was difficult to impossible to observe visually while the Moon was bright, but now that Luna is on the wane, it will once again be possible to observe it. It is now in Aries, higher in the sky and visible earlier and for a longer time before morning twilight. If you get the weather and opportunity, try and observe it over several mornings to detect its motion against the background stars.

Michael Rosolina
Friars Hill, West Virginia, USA