Pastels – Page 20 – Astronomy Sketch of the Day

Faces of Mars

Mars Compilation – January 10 – March 9, 2010

These sketches were created by 27 members of the www.CloudyNights.com Sketching Forum. They are based on observations of Mars on and around its opposition, from January 10th, 2010 to March 9th, 2010. Multiple mediums were used from pencil and paper to digital. The community of forum members whose sketches are shown are from the following countries: France, Belgium, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, South East Asia, United Kingdom, and USA. The instruments they used and the date of their observation is as follows:

Jay Eads	250mm Newtonian	01/10/2010
Sol Robbins	152mm Newtonian	01/11/2010
MikeSemmler	80mm Refractor	01/23/2010
Kris	203mm Newtonian	01/26/2010
Cpl43uk	203mm Catiotropic	01/23/2010
Astroducky	318mm Newtonian	01/27/2010
Sixela	400mm Newtonian	01/27/2010
CarlosEH	229mm Catiotropic	01/29/2010
Dweller25	203mm Newtonian	01/29/2010
Jeff Young	152mm Catiotropic	01/29/2010
BillP	102mm Refractor	01/31/2010
Uwe Pilz	152mm Catiotropic	01/31/2010
Rerun	102mm Refractor	02/04/2010
Special Ed	200mm Catiotropic	02/05/2010
Jef De Wit	305mm Newtonian	02/04/2010
MarkSeibold	127mm Catiotropic	02/05/2010
Phxbird	152mm Newtonian	02/07/2010
Erika Rix	406mm Newtonian	02/07/2010
Mathteacher	100mm Refractor	02/07/2010
NUNKY	120mm Refractor	02/08/2010
Frank5817	333mm Newtonian	02/13/2010
Tommy5	152mm Refractor	02/14/2010
NerfMonkey	305mm Newtonian	02/15/2010
JayScheuerle	120mm Refractor	01/20/2010
Robert Forgacs	305mm Newtonian	02/02/2010
Roel	102mm Refractor	03/01/2010
S1mas	127mm Catiotropic	03/09/2010

Compiled and submitted by William Paolini

2010 March 18 Prominence

Solar h-alpha, Active regions 1054, 1056
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix

DS 60mm Maxscope, LXD75, 21-7mm Zhumell
H-alpha sketch created scope-side with black Canson paper, white Conte’ crayon and pencil, white Prang watercolor pencil, Derwent charcoal pencil, black oil pencil.

That huge prom was an absolute beauty and I could have spent the entire day sketching it over and over for an animation. As it was, it nearly was so complex that a person could spend too much time on one sketch and end up chasing the changes and never actually complete the sketch.

Ramshackle in Reticulum

NGC 1313
Sketch and Details by Scott Mellish

NGC 1313
Star Burst Galaxy
Reticulum
12/12/09
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 Dobsonian
Field: 17′
Magnification: 354x
Sky Quality Meter reading 21:67

Black Canford paper
White pen
White pastel
Soft white pencil
White oil pencil
Blending stump

I was not all that impressed with the quality of the observing conditions while I was sketching this impressive galaxy.
Waves of unsteady air were crossing the eyepiece field at intervals.

Still when there is a clear sky to be had then beggars cannot be choosers.

NGC 1313 is big and bright enough to hold its own in such conditions.
A noted Star Burst galaxy as is quite evident from its ramshackle appearance.

In a large dob this galaxy is a very rewarding sight.

Scott Mellish

Goldschmidt Rays and the Moon’s North Limb

Plato, Goldschmidt and Northern Limb
Sketch and Details by Deirdre Kelleghan

February 28th / March 1st 2010 23:20 UT – 00 :35 UT
200 mm Dobsonian Telescope FL 1,200
8mm TVP eyepiece = 150X
Goldschmidt rays and the Moons North limb

South is up in this sketch because that is the way I viewed it and sketched it. Pastels & Conte on black paper.

Our beautiful Snow moon was 99 .9 % drenched in the suns light when I went observing on the last day in February 2010. Along the NW limb several craters were on view in the libration zone, it was my intention to make a sketch of these elusive features. They presented on the limb as dark deep long shadows edged with sharp bright lines against the blackness of space.

However while these were interesting, my eye was magnetized toward the brightness of Goldschmidt and its ejecta rays, giving great form to the area. Several of these long dark lines were also on view on the edge of the limb close to Goldschmidt and Herschel . It was so visually interesting to observe the contrasts on the limb when the moon was so full, a black and white merry dance of slow movement and rich structure.

Plato never looked so dark and flat ,its black floor absorbing the suns light when most of the surrounding area was throwing it toward my eye. I adored the tiny pure white rim sections singing in the light. My sketch wandered across part of Mare Frigoris , the area around Plato and includes part of Mons Teneriffe .

—
Deirdre Kelleghan
Vice Char IFAS
Outreach IFAS
National Coordinator Astronomers Without Borders Ireland .
http://www.irishastronomy.org/
http://www.deirdrekelleghan.com/
Tweets by skysketcher

Mars – January 19, 2010

Mars – January 19, 2010
Sketch and Details by Christian Gros

Au T180 avec des grossissements de x270 à x308. Mars me paraissait plus jaune qu’orange ! Sur le côté j’ai pu voir la présence de nuages qui donnaient cette aspect beaucoup plus clair !

Christian Gros

Google Translation:

At T180 with magnifications of x270 to x308. Mars seemed more yellow orange! On the side I could see the presence of clouds that gave this aspect a lot clearer!

Christian Gros

Thirty-four Observations—One Map

Mars Map
Sketch and Details by Fred Corno

Date: blend of 34 observations from 2003, 2005 and 2007
Telescopes used: Vixen VMC 200L and Taka FS 128

The attached map represents the blend of 34 observations collected over 4 years. In order to correctly position features depicted in the various sketches made during the observations, reference coordinates grids were made and superimposed to the original drawing, then features were reported on a Lambert projection grid of the whole planet according to reference coordinates.
Original sketches were made marking on a 54 mm blank circular shape color density areas at the eyepiece, then refining with graphite pencil and colored pastels, after the observing session, and blending tones with an artist stump.
Present drawing was made with colored pastels.

Best regards

Fred

Mars – Le 4 Février 2010

Mars – February 4, 2010
Sketch and Details by Christian Gros

Bonsoir,

Ci joint un dessin de la planète Mars réalisé à l’aide de ma lunette 120ED avec des grossissements allant de x252 à x360.
Le dessin a été fait aux crayons pastels.

Object Name : Mars
Object Type : Planet
Location : Besançon France
Date : 2010/04/02

Salutations

Christian Gros

ESO 350-40 Cartwheel Galaxy

ESO 350-40
Hover mouse over image to view labels
Sketch and Details by Scott Mellish

ESO 350-40
The “Cartwheel Galaxy”
Ring Galaxy
Ilford NSW Australia
13/12/09
56cm f5 Dobsonian telescope
Field: 27′
218x magnification
Sky Quality Meter reading 21:76

Black Canford paper
White oil pencil
White pen
White pastel chalk

The enigmatic Cartwheel Galaxy is a tough enough object to observe let alone sketch.
During a nice clear night in December I made an attempt to sketch it as accurately as possible to the actual eyepiece view, and I was reasonably pleased with the end result.

The trouble with the Cartwheel is that it is quite faint and ill defined in most amateur telescopes, as averted vision is required to capture glimpses of the more subtle features of the object.

To sum up the galaxy is visible as a soft oval glow some 2.0′ x 2.0′ in size, with the two unusual companion galaxies around 1.3′ to the left as can be seen in the sketch.
Another galaxy some 2.0′ above and slightly to the left of the companions was also visible, this galaxy has no relationship with the Cartwheel.

Sculptor was getting a bit low in the west whilst I was doing this sketch, but it was possible during moments of steady seeing and using averted vision to just barely make out the ring structure, but it was very faint.

I could not detect any hint of the “spokes” as seen in the Hubble image, but with a larger scope and steadier seeing they could quite possibly be a chance.

The brighter more active star forming region of the galaxy was discernible as a slightly mottled curved patch some 1.6′ x 0.4′ in size, as can be seen slightly off center to the lower right.

I have included a duplicate reference sketch for those unfamiliar with this elusive and very rare object.

Scott Mellish

Part of Basin Schiller – Zucchius

Part of Basin Schiller – Zucchius
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

After 12 cloudy days and nights I was anxious to get out under a clear sky to make an attempt at sketching a lunar target of opportunity. Before selecting a target I noticed the moon was moving through the Pleiades and created a very interesting binocular target. With the moon at 12.5 days into the lunation, the waxing gibbous phase was showing me the Schiller – Zucchius basin very nicely. I centered on two craters to one side of this 3 ringed basin. First the young Copernican period crater Zucchius (65 km.) with its terraced inner walls and shadowed floor looked deeper than its 3.3 km. measured depth because of the light and shadow. Sharing a common wall with this crater is the ancient and similar sized Segner (68 km.). This pre-Nectarian crater looked old and worn. Its rim was low and had nothing in the way of central peaks just a small nearly centered crater Segner H. Extending from the north side of crater Segner’s outer rim is a ridge which is a short wall segment of the second basin ring. What looks much like a shallow depression and measures about the same size as these two craters is the central ring of the basin and can be seen at the lower left (Northeast) in the sketch.
A photo of this entire basin credited to Gary Seronik can be seen on LPOD for October 17, 2004
http://www.lpod.org/archive/LPOD-2004-10-17.htm
I found myself sketching quickly in the cold air which was rapidly dropping in temperature as I sketched. After about an hour I considered the sketch finished and returned to the indoor warmth to thaw out.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: black Canson paper 9″x 12″, white and black Conte’
pastel pencils , and Conte’crayons, a blending stump, plastic and gum erasers. Brightness was not altered but contrast was increased +2 using the scanner for this sketch
Telescope: 10 inch f/ 5.7 Dobsonian with 6mm (241x) eyepiece
Date: 12-29-2009 4:45-5:45 UT
Temperature: -8°C (18°F)
Clear, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi IV
Co longitude 60.6°
Lunation 12.7 days
Illumination 90.7%

Frank McCabe

Lunar Trio

Wolf Crater

Montes Harbinger

Schiller Crater

Sketches and Details by Dale Holt

I have assembled three sketches made at my hand over the Christmas holiday. The first caught my eye because of its shape under the illumination on the evening of observation. It struck me how it looks like a ‘love heart’ I later researched and found that this worn and likely flooded feature? Was Wolf no longer a Wolf’s den! But in my sketch perhaps a Wolf’s heart?

The second of my sketches, and personal favourite of the three is of the magnificent mountain range, Montes Harbinger, I was drawn by the brightly illuminated peaks and anthracite black, jagged and far reaching shadows reminiscent of the angry wood hungry teeth of an old rip saw!

Finally for the of my trio, completed last night it depicts the giant foot print of Schiller, seeing was good and detail plentiful, a wonderful way to spend an hour.

I hope these trio find favour with you? Drawn using my 6″ refractor in all cases & rendered with pastel & watercolour pencils upon black artist paper.

Happy New Year, Dale