Category: Pastels

NGC 6302 – The Bug Nebula

NGC 6302
NGC 6302 – The Bug Nebula
Sketch and Details by Scott Mellish

NGC 6302 “The Bug Nebula”
Planetary Nebula
Sagittarius
19/09/09
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5 dobsonian
Field: 15′
Magnification: 314x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:38

Black Canford paper
White pen
White pencil
White pastel chalk
Blending stump

It had been a while since I visited the Bug Nebula.
As Sagittarius was getting a bit low in the west I thought I might catch it before it went behind the trees.
I was pleased with the eyepiece view and remembered the Hubble image of it.

While the Hubble image wins hands down with subtle detail, the view through a large aperture dob is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

Scott Mellish

Moon over Armagh

Moon over Armagh
Moon over Armagh on Christmas Eve
Sketch and Details by Miruna Popescu

This painting depicts how the southern sky looks on 24 December 2009 at 5.30 pm, when the Moon’s phase reaches first quarter. The next brightest celestial object at this time is the planet Jupiter, which this year is the “Christmas Star” for the Royal School, Armagh. Jupiter is seen here just before it disappears behind the school. The painting shows stars in Pisces, Pegasus, Aquarius and other constellations, and the location of the planet Uranus (visible through a telescope) about a third of the way from the Moon to Jupiter. Uranus was found in 1781 (seven years after the old building of the Royal School was completed) by the astronomer and musician William Herschel, the discovery constituting the first identification of a planet since ancient times and earning Herschel the post of King’s astronomer from George III.

In 1609, the year after the founding of the Royal School, Galileo Galilei used an early telescope to map the Moon and discover satellites of Jupiter. To mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of the telescope to observe the sky, 2009 is being celebrated worldwide as the International Year of Astronomy.

Dr Miruna Popescu from Armagh Observatory is the coordinator for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 in Ireland.

47 Tucanae

NGC 104/47 Tucanae
NGC 104 / 47 Tucanae
Sketch and Details by Scott Mellish

NGC 104/ 47 Tucanae
Globular Cluster
Ilford NSW Australia
17/10/09
56cm f5 Dobsonian Telescope
Field: 17′
Magnification: 354x
Sky Quality Meter reading: 21:78

White pen
Soft white pencil
Hard white pencil
White pastel chalk

I have made numerous attempts at sketching this remarkable globular cluster over the years, mostly in small telescopes at low power where it is just a bright ball. At higher magnification in my 56cm dob it is a vastly different object.

I had a dose of the Flu while I was away observing, but the sky was clear so I spent a solid two hours at the eyepiece sketching this globular, and it nearly done my head in. Every time I looked in the 8mm Ethos there seemed to be more and more stars to add, plus the 100deg FOV of this eyepiece was almost to much to handle.

The following night was clear again so I spent another 40mins just dabbling with the sketch to try and get as accurate eyepiece view as possible.

I have never been 100% satisfied with the sketches I have done previously of NGC 104 and most made the bin. This one however came out fairly good, it is certainly the best I could do with 47 Tuc.

I do not like to overdo eyepiece sketches, especially with size and brightness as one can be tempted to get a bit carried away, and detract from the visual perspective.

There has been no processing done with the sketch.

I do not think I will be doing NGC 104 again any time soon.
Too many stars!

Scott Mellish.

Gleam of the Hunter’s Sword

Gleam of the Hunter’s Sword

M42 and M43, The Great Nebula of Orion
Sketch and Details by Gábor Sánta

The Great Orion Nebula (M 42-43) is the best winter object seen with
the naked eye. This drawing made at four evenings (30 Jan, 2 Feb, 16
March and 17 Oct 2007), with two instruments (114/500 refl., 20×90
binoculars). Three of the four nights there was no evidence of
colours, but the last time, at the morning of 17 Oct 2007, was great
transparency. Me and some friends stargazing at the observing terrace
of Szeged Observatory. I turned the 20×90 bino into M42 and gasped my
breath. The filamentary surface of the nebula was really colourful –
pale greens and greys at the W edge, intense light reddish-brown core
and rim at NE-E. Everybody could see this phenomena. So my final
sketch became colourful, too.After I saw the Great Nebula several times,
and sometimes sensed these niceties in the best skies.

Telescope: 20×90 binoculars
Location: Szeged, Hungary
Time: 30 Jan, 2 Feb, 16 March, 17 Oct 2007
Technique: black paper, colored pastels
Category: Diffuse nebula

Best regards, light
Gábor Sánta
Szeged, Hungary
Columnist of Deep Sky head of amateur astronomical magazine called
“Meteor”
Hungarian Astronomical Association (HAA)

The Young Desert Moon

The Young Desert Moon

The Young Desert Moon Just Past Sunset
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

The Young Desert Moon Just Past Sunset

I just returned to the cloudy Midwest this afternoon from a brief trip to Mesa, Arizona. On the evening of October 19th the beautiful sunset had just occurred and the search for the young waxing crescent moon began in earnest. A quick turn to the eastern sky and the dark portion of the Belt of Venus could be seen 3° above the horizon. Looking back to the southwestern horizon I spotted the 1.8 day old, 3.8% illuminated moon in the golden green glow in that part of the sky at 6:08pm local time (1:08 UT October 20, 2009).
While the sun was setting, I began to sketch the scene using a piece of copy paper and a number 2 pencil. I took careful notes on the sky colors, positions of trees, cactus and roof tops of homes in Sunland Village East where I was sitting while I made this pencil sketch. After arriving back in Oak Forest, Illinois, I converted the pencil sketch and notes into an oil pastel drawing on to white sketching paper.
I did not have access to a telescope at the time of this sketch but if I did I would have been looking at craters Neper, Gauss and Phillips the latter two along the lunar terminator and the former near the illuminated limb.

Sketching:

For this sketch I used: medium weight white CPP sketching paper 9″x 12″,
Grumbacher oil pastels, blending stumps, plastic eraser, and a razor blade, redrawn from a graphite pencil sketch and notes
Telescope: none
Observation Date: 10-19-2009, 6:00-6:45 local time
Temperature: 32°C (90°F)
Clear, calm, warm
Seeing: very good
Lunation number 1074
Lunar age 1.82 days
Illumination 3.8 %

Mesa, Arizona

Frank McCabe

Yellow Moon

Yellow Moon

Yellow Moon over Wroclaw, Poland
Sketch and Details by Aleksander Cieśla

Hello!
This is sketch of the Moon, first from long time. Wether in Poland is very bad in last couple of weeks. The Moon its passing low over Wrocław city. I like when it has a strong yellow color.

Moon. 94% of full
Scope: Schmidt-Cassegrain 5″ with Antares W70 25mm
Place: Poland, Wrocław – near city center
Weather: Bad. Seeing: 1/5. Transparency: 1/5. Light Pollution. Clouds.
Date: 4rd July 2009
Technigue: Yellow pastels (oil & dry) on black paper.
Tooling: Gamma & brightness levels

A Remarkable Star of the Southern Hemisphere

Eta Carina

The dying star, Eta Carina
Sketch by Serge Viellard, text by Frank McCabe

During his vacation trip to Namibia in March of 2009 with the 400cm. travel scope at high power, Serge captured this close up sketch of the asymmetrical orange lobes on each side of the dying star Eta Carina. Serge writes, “This sky is really extraordinary. I have above my head the most remarkable 3 nebulas of the sky with Orion beyond the zenith…”

Crescent Moon Over the Campus Observatory

Crescent Moon over the Campus Observatory

The Crescent Moon Over the Campus Observatory
Sketch and Details by Frank McCabe

Over the past two evenings I sketched the view of our campus observatory dome and the waxing crescent moon with earthshine. On the first night beginning at sunset I drew the view of the observatory deck and dome from across the campus pond. The moon was already in the trees on this night so I knew I would need to return to capture the moon on the next evening if it was clear. The white dome was brightly illuminated by the parking and tennis court lights. As luck would have it, the sky was beautifully clear the next evening and I was able to finish the drawing as planned.

Sketching:

9″x 12″ sheet of dark blue construction paper, a set of Grumbacher oil pastels, x-acto knife for correcting mistakes, flat edge toothpicks for blending, fly tying pocket clip-on lamp.

Conditions:
Clear to partly cloudy both nights
29-30°C (84-86°F)
Very humid, calm
Time:
1:15-2:30 UT 6-24-2009
2:00-2:30 UT 6-25-2009
Location:
Palos Hills, Illinois

Frank McCabe