Solar System & DSO sketches

[mental4astro]

Hi everyone,

The purpose of this thread is act as a gallery of illustrations of all things to do with the Solar System and Deep Sky Objects. The Moon has its own sketching thread, and Lunar work is best placed there.

You've got a sketch you would like to share? This is the place for it.

A write up of the experience is most welcome such as the gear you used, conditions, site, date, points of interest, etc. More formal observational reports would be best placed in the Obs. Report sub-forum.

---

I'll get the ball rolling with one of my own.

The one on Saturn was done way back in '94 using my C5. It was the first time I noticed the shadow of the disk cast back onto the rings, and the 'C' (?) ring on the inside of the rings. Cassisini's division was easily visible as was ring's shadow on the planet's disk. Some cloud features were visible too. This vista made a deep impression on me as it gave me a real "3D" feel with the planet, and left me in no doubt about the quality of this little scope, :thumbsup:

At the time I didn't think I'd be able to spot Titan, or any other of Saturn's moons, so I'm not sure if any of the surrounding "stars" are Titan and cohorts, :( .

Object: Saturn
Date: July '94
Scope: Celestron C5
Gear: Vixen LV 5mm (250X)
Site: Backyard in Sydney
Conditions: Very good still air for Sydney, and good transparency.
Media: coloured pencils and ink on white paper, cut-out and pasted onto black paper

Cheers,

Mental.

[Paddy]

Great sketch to kick off a great thread Alex. Well done on both counts.

[pgc hunter]

finally a place for us visualls to strut our stuff. i got a whole folder of sketches dating back quite a few years, will post some here every now and then.

[Ijay]

Thought I'd continue the rolling ball.
Attached is a sketch of our old mate M42. This was done in December just after Santa brought me a new 40mm eyepiece. It was drawn in charcoal and pencil and inverted. Not good seeing conditions at the time with lots of skyglo.
I hope you enjoy.

IJ

[mental4astro]

Nice work Ivan.

M42 presents so many opportunities for all sizes of scopes. It is birght enough for a small scope to suss out faint details, and delicate enough for large scopes to be challenged to bring out.

I like the extensions of the 'seagull wings'. M43 can be a challenge to see in the Big Smoke. And the 'fish mouth' is nicely prominant (that's the dark protusion that arcs infront of the Trapesium). This dark pillar is one of my favourite features in the whole sky. At a dark site, and with a bit of grunt in the magnification, a soft glow can be made out around the top of its 'head', reminisent of the fabulous pics of dark pillars taken by Hubble. A mottled structure to it is easier to make out with larger scopes, but everyone should have a go at trying to make it out - another opportunity presented by M42!

:thumbsup: Good one mate.

Mental.

[Paddy]

Nice sketch Ivan. You've certainly got the charcoal working well!

[ballaratdragons]

Yeah, I know, you've already seen this one of mine, but It's a new section and I want to contribute :thumbsup:

NGC 2070 (30 Doradus) The Tarantula Nebula

Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud in Southern Skies, the Tarantula
Nebula has an apparent magnitude of 8.0 and is about 160,000 light years
distant.

The exciting thing about ‘The Tarantula’ is that it is a nebula in ‘another
Galaxy’. If it was as close to us as the Orion Nebula is, it would fill 60
degrees of the sky and far outshine Venus!

It is named ‘The Tarantula’ due to it’s appearance being like a giant
spider.

Drawn with number 3 pencil on white art board, scanned and inverted in
Photoshop CS. Red Hue added in Photoshop CS.
Date Drawn: 2006 while observing Tarantula through a 12″ reflector with a
32mm 2″ Erfle Eyepiece.

Ken James
Snake Valley, Australia

[mental4astro]

Ken, you already know what this sketch does to me, you naughty, naughty boy! I'm weak at the knees, butterflies in my tummy, perspiration going, panting, feeling faint... I'd better lie down a while.

This is one of the most stunning astro sketches I've ever seen. A true marvel of detail, subtle touch, patience, and hard work. I'm so pleased that you've added it to this little thread. It'll serve as inspiration for me every time I rip up another sheet of paper in disgust and dispair.

Alex.

[ballaratdragons]

Geez, settle Alex :lol:

Thanks for the terrific compliment, but it's just a drawing :P

I'll try find some of my other sketches (if I haven't thrown them out), or I might do some new ones :thumbsup:

[Paddy]

It is an absolute stunner Ken. Looking forward to more of your sketches

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

Finally a clear, and dewless night! :2thumbs: And I wasn't gonna let a bit of Moonlight spoil the party.


With the New Moon just around the corner, I took this chance to blow some cobwebs out of my pencil case. Nothing elabarate gear wise. Just my little 8" f/4 dobbie, a 30 year old eyepiece and an OIII filter and a view of the Eta Carina nebula. This was the first sketch using the Mellish technique I've done in ages. Once the 45 minute sketch was done, it surprised me how much detail was laid down. Eta Carina itself is visible as the bright orangish spot. At 29X, the Homunculus nebula isn't visible- it's too small, just its distinct colour.

Being done in Sydney, the full potential of this giant nebula isn't realised. It was more a point of getting something done after such a long time of unproductivity.

Object: Eta Carina nebula
Scope: 8" f/4 dob
Gear: RKE 28mm (29X), OIII filter
Date: 23-3-'11
Location: Sydney
Conditions: 'Sydney sky' plus last quarter Moon
Media: White paste, black & white charcoal, white & coloured ink on black paper.

[michaellxv]

That certainly is a stunning image Ken and deserves another outing.

[ballaratdragons]

Thanks Michael



Gee Alex, if you are seeing that much Nebula (Dark & light) from a light polluted area in Sydney you are doing very well!

Your sketch is excellent.
It has a sort of photographic quality to it :thumbsup:

[michaellxv]

Very nice Alex. Your sketching is very impressive and the amount of detail you can pull out of suburban skies is amazing.

[Suzy]

Ken, this is the most amazing sketch I have seen- such incredible detail and shading and contrast You are so talented! Please post more pics of your wonderful work.

Poor Alex, I felt his pain. :lol: Especailly more painful as your sketch was next to Ken's. :lol:
Alex, that was a great pic of the Carina Nebula - nice work.

[Paddy]

A very impressive sketch - as Ken says, an amazing amount of detail for Sydney skies. A great and faithful rendition.

[Paddy]

At the start of some very good observing last night, I made some sketches of the NGC 1962 complex with NGC 1953 (the cluster at top left) and NGC 1910 with NGCs 1916 (top) and 1913 (top left).

I haven't got my gear to try the Mellish technique yet so these are just sketched with graphite on white paper, photographed and inverted using GIMP

[Paddy]

Forgot to mention that the 1962 complex includes open clusters 1962,1965,1966 & 1970 in Henize emission nebula N144. 1953, 1913 & 1916 are globular clusters and 1910 is an emission nebula. All are in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

[barx1963]

Paddy you are puttin' me to shame!:P I am going to have to head down the art supplies shop this week.

[orestis]

Nice sketches Alex and Paddy,

great stuff:thumbsup:,

cheers orestis:)

[Paddy]

Thanks guys!

[mental4astro]

Nice work there, Paddy. Good to see some of the other jewels of the LMC get a gernsey.

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

Ok, I had to bite the bullet tonight and undertake a big 'un, Omega Centauri.

Again I used my easy to use (1 min. set up time) 8" f/4 scope. With such a short focal length, I had to use a short focal length EP to get any resolution. The TMB Planetary Type II 9mm I recently bought from Sylvain here on IIS was just perfect.

This GC is amazing. Averted vision with this little scope from home reveals SO MANY STARS. But it also allows for faint concentrations of strands of stars to trace out fine patterns, and variations in density. Near the centre there appears to be a void of stars, but it is most likely a chance line-of-sight fluke, but there are very faint stars that occupy this space.

I did have a lot of fun with this one. Most of the time I was pot-marking the page with tiny dots. It extends so far, and with it's location in the sky, its outer edge blends into the surrounding 'noise' of the Milky Way.

Do I dare revisit this Titan with my 17.5"? :screwy:, probably.

Object: NGC 5139, Omega Centauri
Scope: 8" f/4 dob.
Gear: 9mm TMB Planetary Type II, 89X
Date: 29 March 2011
Location: Sydney
Conditions: Sydney light polluted skies
Media: white pastel & white charcoal on black paper

[pgc hunter]

whoa Alex! What a ripper sketch :eek:did you position each star correctly or fill them in at random?

[Paddy]

:bowdown:and:bowdown:and :bowdown:again. Is this the Astronomy Sketch of the Year? Amazing Alex, just amazing.

[mental4astro]

Thanks for the comments, lads. Omega Centauri has always scared the heebee-geebees in me to even contemplate as a sketching option. Scott's work on GC's gave me the nerve to have a go.

The stars in the sketch are done in two ways: after making the initial 'ball' with the pastel and brush, the brighest stars were marked. The fainter ones where than 'machine gunned' on to achieve the desired effect of details like the arcs and various compact concentrations.

I don't think an illustrator today would sit and mark down each individual star. These sketches in the end are only a representation, not a photo, so there is a degree of license.

This rough and ready sketch was done in less than 1hr. A small scope and a light polluted sky does much to tone down Omega. That helped.

The Mellish Technique is an incredible tool. :eyepop:.

[michaellxv]

I think your are leading the way for us Alex. In this day of digital photography there is not a whole lot of point in trying to be scientifically precise with sketches. It is more about an artistic impression and recording as much as you can see naked eye.

[Paddy]

Clear skies last night - one of the fruits was some good views of NGC 3242, the "Ghost of Jupiter". Alas not quite as good as during a brief session a couple of nights before when I could observe it at 450X. But still not bad - here is a sketch made with pastel pencil on black paper, photographed with some adjustment to contrast in GIMP.

[mental4astro]

Nice Airey discs, Paddy, :lol:

I like the amount of detail you've put down. The variations in shell brightness, scale, and the slight brightening along the very edge. These are the details that challenge the observer to identify. Not a big target, but the degree of complexity would trip up many who would try to describe this PN in detail. Your sketch has is in 'black and white'.

Good one mate, :thumbsup:.

[orestis]

:bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:
ABSOLUTELY STUNNING SKETCH ALEX

I am In complete awe of your talent to produce such an acurate representation of this globular.

I have to get myself the mellish techniques tools to give it a go.

Awesome keep them coming
Cheers Orestis:thumbsup:

[orestis]

Awesome sketch paddy,

A very accurate representation of what one may expect from this magnificent planetary,nice work.

cheers orestis:thumbsup:

[orestis]

Hi guys:hi:,

It has been quite a while since I last observed and I could not miss this clear night opportunity on the 1st of April.

Here is a sketch of my favourite OC,Tau canis majoris cluster or ngc 2362 from the night,

Instrument-12'' dobsonian
Eyepieces-26mm plossoll and 15mm plossoll
magnifications- 57x and 100x
conditions-cold, dewey(My secondary dewed up only 2 hours into thesession and i decided to call it quits,is this normal for a solid tube.)
seeing-3/5
Sketch details-Sketch materials used were white printer paper and a 3b pencil and a 3h pencil.I first plotted the main star tau and several other bright field stars to anchor my sketch I then worked my way around the cluster using the stars to gauge distance and try to accurately postion the stars,After I am happy with the plotting of the stars I give more weight to the brighter stars to make them stand out.That is all done at the telescope after going inside I fix up the neatness and then process it on the computer using gimp also adding colour to stars I thought had colour.
Object details-Sketch says it all,a Magnificent open cluster a must see for those who have yet to observe it.

Thanks for viewing

Cheers Orestis:thumbsup:
ps-regarding cardinal points west is to the right and north to the top.

[Paddy]

Lovely sketch of a very beautiful OC, Orestis. Well done.

BTW I found that Scott Tannehill's fan modification for the GSO dob got rid of any secondary dew problems on mine. http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-400-0-0-1-0.html I found that I didn't need to change the mounting of the fan as the vibration was minimal - I only put the cover around the back of the scope with a gap for the fan inlet to push the air into the tube and stop it bouncing back off the primary and put the baffle a few cm above the primary to direct air over the primary. Neither mirror ever dewed again. I could feel the gentle flow of air out of the end of the OTA. It also meant the primary cooled down much quicker and the scrubbing of the boundary layer meant I could go to higher powers sooner.

[orestis]

Thanks Paddy :thumbsup:,

Cheers orestis

[mental4astro]

Hey Orestis,

Your sketch of the OC is a very good one, particularly as it includes the electric blue of Tau Canis Majoris. Colour is one aspect that is often missing from astro sketches. Sometimes, not because the object doesn't seem to have colour, but we either miss the colourful stars, or we hesitate in using grey or even a pale blue in the item, an white alone doesn't quite do it on its own.

Particularly with galaxies, GC's and nebulae. Grey can soften the otherwise harsh white, and the blue gives an element that white just doesn't have. Our eyes perception of low light isn't strictly 'black and white with shades of grey'. It's a little more complex.

[pgc hunter]

NGC 5189 - Spiral Planetary.

Made this sketch a couple of nights ago. Seeing and transparency were nothing to crow home about, seeing especially was poor. Used an OIII filter which did an excellent job of enhancing contrast.

also...

B33 - Horsehead Nebula. From my last obs seasion back in December! Used the H-beta filter.

both sketches done with 12" dob.

[Paddy]

Great sketches Sab. I especially like the NGC 5189 - fantastic detail. Your sketch of B33 accurately captures the subtlety of the observation.

[mental4astro]

Sab,

These two sketches are positively outstanding, mate!

The Horsie shows that it is observable in sub 1metre apertures, :rolleyes:

And the spiral planetary shows such subtlety of touch, and acute observation from a target that lies in one of my favourite constellations, Musca. It doesn't have a great deal of DSO's, but those it does richly reward and challenge observers who care to look.

Top stuff! :thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

:party: Finally, a clear night! :party2:

It started looking dodgey, but the clouds parted to reveal stars! Even from Sydney! Woohoo!

Heartened by my attempt at Eta Carina Nebula with an 8" dob, tonight, armed with a battery of sketching implements, I trained my 17.5" dobbie at the same target.

This time, I also used my Grand Daddy of eyepieces, a 35mm Masuyama. A bit long for my f/4.5 scope, but them's the breaks, :lol:.

This is such a busy place. There are nebulae within nebulae, multiple shockwaves, burst of star formation both just initiated and freshly kicking off their nuclear fires, and a super massive star about to go supernova.

This magnificent NASA site (http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/gallery/db/tours/tour-carina/tour.swf) shows where these details are.

Man-O-Man, what a nightmare of detail. Three hours of work, and the result is below. My nervous tick twitches at the thought of doing all this again from a dark site, :scared2: . Ooooh, it's gonna be soooo much fun, :lol: !



Scope: 17.5" f/4.5 dob
Gear: 35mm Masuyama, 57X, & OIII filter
Date: April 8, 2011
Location: Randwick Girls' High School, Sydney
Media: White pastel, white & black charcoal pencils, white chinagraph, white and coloured ink on black paper.

[michaellxv]

Fantastic collection of sketches you guys have put up this week :2thumbs::clap:

[yusufcam]

sublime

well done!

[pgc hunter]

Thanks Paddy and Alex. Alex, that Eta Carina sketch is amazing!

[Paddy]

Colin has already used the word that comes to my mind for you sketch Alex. It is truly sublime and an inspiration.

This will of course be an Astronomy Sketch of the Day, I assume.

[pgc hunter]

Here's my widefield M42 with the 120mm Skywatcher. Eyepiece used was a Vixen LVW 22mm @ 2.5° TFOV.

[mental4astro]

Hey Sab,

There is something very appealing about each and every image of M42, they are all uniquely beautiful. This giant of a clam-shell nebula, with it Trapesium pearl, is so emotive. You've laid down some fine detail, along with M43, and a nicely glowing Running Man. The Running Man is often overlooked, and I now consider it an added bonus if prevailing conditions allow it to be seen.

Well done!

Mental.

[Paddy]

As always a great sketch, Sab. Lovely in both detail and texture!

[orestis]

Thanks for posting Sab very impressive:thumbsup:.

Alex that is absolutely sensational.What i love about your technique is that it looks as if you are there at the moment looking through the ep.so realistic.Well worth the time:thumbsup:.

Cheers Orestis
keep them coming
ps-This is a great thread:D

[pgc hunter]

Thanks gents. Paddy, the texture on the sketch IMO came out too rough, but that is the fault of the cheap Coles brand paper. I now use more "premium" brands (reflex et al) which have a noticably smoother texture much better suited to sketching.

[iceman]

Alex's sketch of Eta Carina (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?p=707555) is this weeks IOTW (http://www.iceinspace.com.au).

What better time to showcase the talent and fantastic work that astro sketchers do. Brilliant work Alex. My talent extends as far as stick figure drawing!

[orestis]

Way to go Alex:thumbsup:

I commend your absolute talent:thumbsup:.

Cheers Orestis:)

[Terry B]

Stunning sketch.

[steve000]

Attached is the sketch with an image taken with a 350D by someone on the net.. its a nice comparison.

amazing sketch really amazing

[mental4astro]

Holy cow, Steve! Mate, its spooky the comparison! Thanks for that.

So, I wasn't really imagining it, :lol:.

Thank you everyone for your comments. This was the last sketch of mine that I was able to show Scott. He liked it too. I'm just sad that he didn't get to see how influential his sketching technique had become to have a sketch using his method, earn Image Of The Week.

I am honoured, thrilled and humbled, with a tinge of saddness too.

[morls]

Great sketch of Eta Carina Alex! :clap::clap::clap:

[michaellxv]

Congratulation Alex, well deserved. It's a great way to honour the memory of a friend.

[danielsun]

Congrats on IOTW Alex! Brilliant work!:thumbsup:
Also great sketches all round from everyone else too! Some very talented members here.;)

Cheers Daniel.

[mental4astro]

I managed a short session tonight, after not being able to get to my regular dark site last night due to cloud. Tonights conditions from home were not great, with high whispy cloud causing annoyance.

NGC 3532 is a fantastic bright open cluster. It is a naked eye object, even from my home, sitting just East of Eta Carina (also a naked eye object), and often mistaken for it when looking through a finder scope.

It is a massive cluster, with a size of close to 60' - twice that of the Moon! It is a cluster that is best seen in a pair of binoculars or a rich field scope.

For once I added a ring, marking the FOV. This was done after the sketch was laid down. I added it to give a sense of the size of this bugger as the AFOV with the eyepiece I used is close to 2.5deg!

I also used my new 'sketching dew hutch' (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=74645). Good thing I did as everything was soaked after the 45minutes the sketch took, yet the paper remained nice and dry, :).

Cheers,

Mental.

Object: NGC 3532
Scope: 8", f/4
Gear: GSO Superview 30mm (68deg), 27X
Date: 1st May 2011
Location: Sydney
Conditions: poor, high cloud and very dewy
Materials: White charcoal pencil, white and coloured ink on black paper
_____

Edit:

There were some words that astroron had said while the debate about having a sketch forum created. It went along the lines of:

"frankly honest Most do not impress me that much".

These words have been ringing in my ears about this sketch. It was flat and unexciting. It lacked the PUNCH of the eyepeice experience.

I reworked it a little, adding diffraction spikes to the brighter stars. To me it now seems to have a bit more of a kick. What do you think?

Ron, thanks for the words too. It got me thinking on how to sex up these otherwise flat open cluster sketches, :thumbsup:

[michaellxv]

Another great sketch Alex. It must have taken a lot of concentration to place all those stars.

Good to hear the dew hutch works.

The spikes certainly add another dimension to the sketch. It works well in this one. I don't know that I would use it all the time. For those clusters that really sparkle it would be good.

[Paddy]

Another great sketch Alex. And what a challenge. Such a large and populous open cluster - I could not imagine trying to capture it.

Regarding sketches looking "flat" - well, hmmm. I am in vigorous disagreement. Firstly, for me the priority is an accurate representation of what is seen at the eyepiece. Secondly, with the talent that you have, these are always inspiring. I don't think you need to "sex them up", although the spikes do make it look pretty. Your sketches just as they are are inspiration enough for me.

[yusufcam]

looks great, good job...

you deserve a medal just for attempting to capture the complexity of the cluster

hmm...

take requests? (lets see, jewel box might be nice)

[pgc hunter]

great sketch Alex. I like the diffraction spikes, it gives the cluster a bit of life. Anyone brave enough to attempt 3532 should be given automatic ASOD honours! :thumbsup:

While we're talking about 3532, here is my take on it done a few years ago with an 8" dob.

[Paddy]

Very nice rendition of NGC 3532 Sab. I relate in particular to the cross-shaped lanes of star paucity which seems very clear at the eyepiece.

[mental4astro]

Beautiful work there, Sab! So many lovely arcs and lines. I like the way you've highlighted the brighter stars too. A pains taking sketch, very detailed and studied.

[pgc hunter]

Thanks Paddy and Alex. Now I just gotta summon the gonads to draw it with my 12 incher!

[michaellxv]

Congratulatios Alex, you scored another ASOD (http://www.asod.info/?p=5712) :thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

Thank you Michael! I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge your mentioning when you posted it way back when.

It's been a very miserable year so far obs. wise, just stating the bleed'n obvious. But didn't we get a ripper last night here in Ol' Sydney Town! Even with work the next day, I just had to pull out the scope.

Conditions started pretty ordinary, but by the time came to pack up, WOW, so steady and clear. In the current thread of Gem's on noting your favourite object I mentioned mine as being M7, with its now half dozen other objects that also lie within its boundary. The three that I had mentioned were so easy to see tonight. No eye strain, no scanning, no hide-and-seek. They were just there! I'll be needing to get finer charts to seek out the three planetary nebulae that Les has mentioned.

M7 was too late to consider as a sketching option as the time by then had come to pack up.

What I did do was two, one of the magnificent GC in Ara, NGC 6397, and one of M8. As by now you may know I am not a big fan of jotting down that "Circle of Confine" that marks the edge of the field of view. Even so, there is some merit in it, :rolleyes:. So just to be difficult, I've scribed an arc, rather than a full circle, and made it really, really faint, as I want the DSO to be the main fair.

6397 is really something special. Like its more famous brother, M4, it too has an odd bar formation that crosses its middle, though the component stars in this "belt" are fainter. Its tendrils reach out very far, with what may be unassociated patches of clusters splashed out far from the main ball.

M8 in an OIII filter, even from home, is really something! I had only really noticed the main 'hour glass' shape of the nebula. Tonight I got my first look at just how extensive the nebulousity really is. It is bloody enourmous! The nebulosity is so textured too, with swirls, dark lanes, and density variations extending way beyond the field of view. I've got some more work to do to fine tune my touch. Some details came out a little too strong, others not quite the shape I was after. A start all the same for a future dark sky effort.

Both sketches where done using the same scope and eyepiece, M8, however, I also used an OIII filter. A bit rusty, but I'm pleased with the two and a half hours spent.

NGC 6397 & M8
Scope: 17.5" dob
Gear: 15mm Superview, 133X, & OIII filter with M8
Date: June 5, 2011
Location: Sydney
Media: White pastel, white & black charcoal and white ink on A4 size black paper

[pgc hunter]

Fantastic sketches once again Alex :clap: The lagoon is indeed a lovely sight especially with a filter and makes a nice pair with the Trifid. I'd like to see your take on the Trifid with your sketching style.

[Ric]

Two lovely renditions Alex.

M8 is a beauty, you definitely have an eye for detail.

[Paddy]

Great sketches Alex. I particularly like the GC - it's like seeing it through the eyepiece.

[michaellxv]

Here is my sketch of M83 from my night out on the 25th June. (see separate report).

Rather than go the soft and light approach which I find a bit difficult to see what I am doing in the dark I tried a more heavy handed approach. The end result is a much brighter than what I could really see but is still representative.

Pastel on black paper.

[mental4astro]

I like it Michael! Nicely done with the soft shading that comes out from the arms. Adds movement to the sketch. Brilliant.

[Paddy]

Very nice indeed Michael.

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

HOORAY! A clear dark sky!


This was my first visit to Wiruna, the dark sky site of the Astronomical Society of New South Wales (many thanks to Alex Comino for organizing my stay there ;) ). This was the stomping ground of Scott Mellish, and it was such a great experience to meet some of his friends up there. He is so sorely missed.

Conditions started marvelously. Using my 17.5” dob, my first squiz of M16, had me gasping “There it is! There’s the Eagle!” So clear was the dark pillar system. So much so that I could also make out the distinct highlighted leading edge of the pillars! Even with an OIII filter! So cool!

This sketch of the Eagle took around two hours to complete.

It was also my first use of another treasure of an eyepiece, a Unitron 16mm Konig eyepiece. What a marvelous eyepiece! Not as long in eyerelief as newer eyepieces, but the image is one of the brightest I’ve seen, and easily has a 70* FOV.

Object: M16, The Eagle Nebula
Scope: 17.5” f/4.5 dob, push pull
Gear: Unitron 16mm Konig, 125X, + OIII filter
Date: 2’nd June, 2011
Location: Wiruna, Ilford, Australia
Materials: White pastel, black & white charcoal pencils and white ink on A4 size black paper

Cheers,

Alex M.

[pgc hunter]

Brilliant SKetch Alex and nice job seeing the Pillars of Creation.

[Ric]

Excellent work Alex.

That sketch is a beauty.

Cheers

[Paddy]

Another beautiful sketch Alex. Well done!

[orestis]

Alex,Your sketches keep getting better and better:thumbsup:.

thanks for going to the effort to post,absolutely fantastic detail.

Cheers Orestis:)

[mental4astro]

Thanks all for your comments. This sketch of the Eagle has quickly become one of my fav's too. Funny enough, I keep seeing new details in it whenever I come back to it.

The following sketch was done the same night as the Eagle sketch.

There are few deep sky objects that are rarely matched to their impact through the eyepiece. When you first see them through the eyepiece, you lift your head for just one moment & think “Holy heck, did I just see that!”, and then rush back to the eyepiece .

NGC 6752 has to be one of those objects. This southern sky globular cluster in the constellation Pavo, is one cracker of a GC. A naked eye object, it is easily overlooked as it lies in a tremendously busy part of the sky. My first look at it had me running around the place saying to folks “you gotta have a look at this through your scopes!”

Not only is it a bright GC, but it is jam-packed with lines, arcs, loops, and figures made up of stars. One particularly lovely alignment of stars seems to trace a large looping love heart shape. My sketch shows it on the left side of the main ball. Sketch was done in just over an hour.

This GC is one big sucker. The mistiness that reaches out from the core is very expansive. The number of resolved stars is wicked. This GC’s reach was huge, even though transparency of the sky wasn’t brilliant.

This is one target that I would really love to have a squiz at through a monster dob. I might even run the risk of trashing my night vision with it this way, :lol: .

I can only hope that this sketch evokes some of the immense beauty of this cluster. It is just WOW!

Alex.

Object: NGC 6752, globular cluster in Pavo
Scope: 17.5” f/4.5
Gear: Unitron 16mm Konig, 125X, 33.6’ AFOV
Date: 2nd July, 2011
Location: Wiruna, Ilford, Australia
Media: White pastel, white charcoal pencil & white ink on A4 size black paper.

[Paddy]

This is truly a fantastic GC and beautifully sketched Alex. When I observe this one I'm always struck by the arcs of stars spreading out from the core and you've captured them perfectly. Brilliant sketch.

[michaellxv]

Fantastic sketch Alex. I don't think I've looked at this one but it is definitely on my list now.

[orestis]

Great sketch Alex,

Heres my sketch of the jewel box i did using my 12'' dobsonian on the 12/7/11 using a 9mm tmb Ep.

Regards Orestis:thumbsup:

[pgc hunter]

A fine effort Orestis. Like how you include the actual star colours.

[mental4astro]

Nicely done indeed.. Colourful & crisp.

[Paddy]

A very good job indeed Orestis. As Sab says, including the colours is very good and it looks very much as it does in the eyepiece.

[michaellxv]

Ok, so here is my Jewel Box from my backyard.
What's most interesting is what I couldn't see.
No moon, so it's just the light polution blocking the view.

[mental4astro]

Nice job with the Jewel Box, Michael. I like the colouration too. The vivid red and blue. Quite striking.

The Jewel box is such a lovely OC in any scope, and at any magnification. Though it's surrounded by so many stars, its richness and distinct wedge-shape makes it stand out so prominently.

[mental4astro]

Hello everyone,

This last new moon I managed to pin onto paper the fabulous Swan Nebula, M17. After my previous new Moon’s view of it, I’ve been chaffing at the bit to get back to it. It is just so detailed, expansive, and subtle in features.

Most striking is the particularly dark hollow that is surrounded by the ‘neck’ of the Swan. It is so much darker than the surrounding space. Here is a tell-tale-sign of not only a dark pillar obstructing the light from the nebula, but that there is so much background light that comes from the background, invisible stars in this section of the Milky Way, that this dark pillar is just SO BLACK.

My previous look at the Swan had me see for the first time the highly textured nature of the ‘bird’s body’. This time, with the added time spent on looking at it, I noticed so much more extensive nebulosity that radiates out from the obvious avian shape. These extensions themselves are so very detailed.

As my big dob is of the good old push-pull type, the constant manual moving of the scope had my eye picking up this faint network of faint smokiness, that a ‘static’ image from a driven scope may not have allowed to be viewed so easily. Such as the heightened darkness immediately above and below the bird’s back and body, only to have more nebulosity sit above and below it, and even behind it. The effect was akin to a swan emerging from out of a soft bank of fog, and the bird’s movement through it causing a delicate disruption to the fog. Just beautiful.

This was a real challenge to sketch. So much of the object is so faint, needing averted vision to make it out. The mottled texture of the bird’s plumage was extraordinarily difficult to make out and lay down faithfully. So much of this is all averted vision work.

By far my most satisfying sketch to date. I hope you enjoy it too.

Object: M17, the Swan Nebula
Scope: 17.5”, f/4.5, push-pull dob.
Gear: 13mm Ethos (thanks Jim!), + OIII filter, 154X
Date: 30th July, 2011
Location: Mount Blackheath Lookout, NSW, Australia
Materials: White soft pastels & charcoal pencil on A4 size black paper, done over 3hrs.

Alex.

[michaellxv]

Awesome sketch Alex and a very nice description too.

I had the privilege of looking at this beauty through an 18" scope with Ethos EP on Saturday night (thanks Alan:thumbsup:) and it was just amazing. I was blown away by the amount of nebulosity and subtle detail surrounding the swan. I can see why you guys like it so much.

[pgc hunter]

Great work Alex. This is one of the best nebulae in the sky.

[Ric]

Great work Alex

That's better than some images that I've taken of M17

[orestis]

:eyepop:Wow,

Alex that is absolutely sensational you have to be happy with that.Definately worth an ASOD.

M17 is a spectacular nebula:thumbsup:.

Cheers Orestis
Ps- 3 hours,now that is what you call determination
well done Alex:thumbsup:

[Paddy]

Beautiful and very accurate rendition Alex. Love all the dark lanes and fainter nebulosity that you've been able to bring out.

[pgc hunter]

M57 sketch from tonight. Nothing much, with the putrid seeing and all

[mental4astro]

"Putrid seeing", alright. But it's still good to get out under the stars.

Nice work with M57, considering conditions. You've laid down some very nice and delicate detail there Sab. Good control of the pencil to have such a soft touch. I really like the variation in density through the main ring shape.

Do you use a blending stick or is it just the pencil tip? The shading is very finely done.

[pgc hunter]

thanks Alex. seeing was in the pits, the nebula was actually swimming like a flag in a breeze. Didnt get anywhere near the magnification I hoped for. Just use a pencil tip, in this case a 2B (whatever is lying around the house!) But yeah a good view with nice contrast, happy with that. I was once able to use 260x or so with a 12" in great seeing, that was a nice view.

[michaellxv]

A couple of sketches from last week. Open clusters NGC6067 & 6087 in Norma. I wanted to redo these from a dark site at the weekend but didn't take my cloud blaster with me.

From my backyard NGC6067 appeared to have some slight nebulosity at the center although I don't know if this was due to the higher density of stars some of which I could not resolve.

NGC6087 is much more open and has a hook asterism in the middle.

From tonight, I observed comet 2009 P1 Garrad. I went back to it every hour or so to track its motion through the background stars of Sagitta. The nucleus was clearly brighter than the surrounding coma. I put the overall surface brightness about the same as a nearby star listed as mag 10.65

[Paddy]

Great sketches Michael. Both OCs look very good renditions and very interesting to see the movement of the comet on the one sketch.

[Paddy]

Last night did my first sketch for quite some time - comet Garradd, just near the "Coathanger" in Vulpeca. Worked it over tonight using the Mellish technique - I've had the stuff to do this for a while and haven't tried it til now. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I also did a version of a sketch I did in March of NGC 3242. I am quite pleased thus far and looking forward to playing with this more.

Any suggestions most appreciated.

Both sketches made from obs with 16" dob.

[michaellxv]

Thanks for your comments Patrick. Both of your sketches look very good, seeing the tail must add nicely to the view.

[Paddy]

Thanks Michael. It does look very good at the moment. I wish I'd sketched it as it was passing M71, but the GC might have been well beyond my skills.

[orestis]

Awesome sketches Paddy:thumbsup:,

Your comet sketch looks so much more realistic than mine.I really need to get the equipment to sketch in this style.

Great view
thanks
Orestis:thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

Michael, my apology for my delay in responding. I've only been able to dart in and out of IIS for a while now, and I didn't want to rush a response to your, and Paddy's, work.

Marvelous stuff with the comets, gentlemen! Michael, good thinking with the periodic observations of Garradd. I'm really surprised that there had been so much movement over two and a half hours.

Paddy, very nice. Very nice! I reall don't have any suggestions to make other than keep it up! I told ya the Mellish Technique isn't hard! Didn't I? ;)

[orestis]

Hi everyone,

I found a piece of black a4 paper and decided to try and transpose a graphite sketch onto black paper using a simple white coloured pencil.

And here is my result compared to a graphite sketch (inverted).This is a sketch of comet garrad.

What do you think any suggestions?

Cheers Orestis:thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

Hey Orestis,

sorry it's taken a little time to respond to this sketch of yours.

I've just come back to them, and I've noticed one thing with the redo:

a small demarkation between the coma and the tail.

There is a way to help not have the demarkation there. If you look in the "Sketching Tips" sticky (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=762034&postcount=52), you'll see my last post there about working in layers. You can do this with this comet sketch of yours very effectively.

*Start with the coma very faintly, and just as faintly add the tail. This is to give you their relative placement and approximate extent.

* Next work the tail some more, starting from the coma. Don't worry if you reach into the area of the coma. Work from the coma out. This will allow the brush itself to give you the soft edge finish. You can go over the core of the tail as needed to increase its brightness.

* The coma you work in a similar way, out from the core. A really soft small brush is a big help here as you can really control the development of the intensity. The junction of the coma and the tail won't be an issue.

* To finish you can add the core of the comet with either a fine brush by dabbing the tip however number of times you need to achieve the effect (recommended as it is diffuse), or drawn in.

Have a number of practice goes on the one sheet. This way you can develop your touch, and see directly what worked best and what didn't.

When you're happy with the developed touch, have another go at the "redo", and see what you think.

Mental

[mental4astro]

Hello all,

I thought I'd share a couple of sketches of mine that show how my own technique has developed over the last year.

I've harped on a lot about the influence of our late mate Scott Mellish, but I think these two sketches show what I mean.

The first was done a shade under one year ago, before I got to know Scott and his technique. The second one was done in June. Sure there would be a difference in the amount of subtle detail that would be visible in from a dark site, but the way I've been able to illustrate the same object is striking. Well, at least for me.

Both are done on A4 size black paper. The first, done from my home in Sydney, was only using white pencil and ink. The second, done form Wiruna near Ilford in NSW, was done using white pastel & white charcoal. What most surprises me in the comparison is the greater control I now have of the media to produce a much more true-to-life rendition of DSO's.

I hope you find the comparison a striking one too.

Mental.

[Paddy]

A very impressive comparison, Alex. Amazing how much more detail can be included with the Mellish technique.

[pgc hunter]

Love the second one Alex, you've captured the subtle detail very well. Gotta try this technique out myself.

[barx1963]

Good to see our very own Alex featured in the latest edition of Astronomy Now magazine from the UK with a link to his thread on the Mellish technique. It was part of a larger article specifically on the technique.

[Paddy]

Thanks for the heads up Malcolm. Went out and got a copy - great to see the article and Alex's "sketch".

[mental4astro]

Thanks for that head's up too, Malcolm. Got my copy too and have been showing the page to whoever I've been able to nail to the floor, :D. I'm tickled pink about it. Might send a few more astro nuts around here to IIS hopefully.

This October New Moon saw me attend for the first time the Ice In Space Astro Camp. The forecast threatened thunderstorms, but as luck would have it, the clouds parted to give us a great view of the sky. Thunderstorms did happen, but we only saw the glow of the flash of lightening from a massive storm system that lay behind a ridge.

My first sketch of the night was of 47 Tuc (NGC 104). This massive globular cluster is considered to be the remnant core of a galaxy long ago swallowed up by our Milky Way. There are two other such galaxy core remnants, Omega Centauri & M2.

The view of 47 Tuc through my 17.5” is nothing but astounding. At 125X the whole FOV is filled with countless stars. Its core is very compact and extremely bright, and the reach of the remaining ball of stars is impossible to determine its limits. Transparency was a little lacking, but you take what you get sometimes.

For once I added a FOV ring around the subject. My customary ringless sketch lacked a little something with this one as the field doesn’t extend to the edge of the page, the excessive blank black caused a lack of context. The FOV ring this time I feel gives that context to the sketch with only a small amount of extraneous stars lying just outside the ring.

An interesting comparison is between 47 Tuc and Omega Centauri, the two largest globular clusters in the sky. Omega’s core is larger in apparent size, while 47’s is much more compact and intense. This makes for an easier pick-up of ‘fingerprint’ patterns within Omega, while these patterns are much more subtle and even fickle in 47 Tuc. Still, these differences make for their distinct & unique qualities.

This was a challenge to sketch faithfully. As most of the stars in this cluster are actually quite faint on their own, it became more of a matter of attempting to lay down an impression of the collective features. The patchy ‘mini clusters’ around the perimeter, the suggested arcs and lines, and the distinct three ‘dark’ spots on the core, one of which is more of a bar that lies above two of the spots.

I hope you enjoy this sketch.

Alex M.

Object: 47 Tuc (NGC 104)
Scope: 17.5” f/4.5 push-pull dob
Gear: 16mm Unitron König, 125X
Location: Lostock, NSW, Oz
Date: 30th October 2011
Media: White pastel pencil and white gel pen on A4 size black paper
Duration: 1.5hrs.

[barx1963]

Alex mate, that is exactly how 47Tuv looks in my 13mm Nagler at 113x. Excellent work.
BTW have been hearing good things about your sketching workshop at IISAC.

Malcolm

[michaellxv]

Alex that is awesome work. That is an excellent rendition of a fabulous object. 1.5hrs at the eyepiece must have been very tiring. I bet you were seeing spots everywhere after that effort.

Congrats on the mag article, I hope there is still some left.

[Paddy]

:bowdown:

That is just amazing Alex. As Malcolm says, just how it looks in the eyepiece. You've got the complex of arcs around the 'covered wagon' just right. Stunning, stunning, stunning and just absolutely stunning.

Did I forget to say:bowdown:

Oh, and :bowdown:

(from a dedicated non-smilie user)

[mozzie]

hi all
after a fantastic astro camp and meeting alex i was excited about doing the sketching course with him....well iv'e all the necessary supplies i need to start sketching and have been doing some small test runs with g/c and some stars to get there different magnitudes i tell you alex makes it look easy.i'm hoping to do the tail of scorpio and a little g/c 6441 a nice easy something to start with.....lets hope the weather clears.......

[mozzie]

hi all astro sketchers,after cloud cloud cloud and full moon finally got in the eyepiece last night and did 2 sketches of 2 small g/c and the surrounding stars.these are my first 2 sketches and will upload later today.

[mozzie]

here is the 2 sketches i did last night,they are of 2 g/c that had slight brightening of there cores and some surrounding stars..they looked interesting to me and didn't look to complex for my first efforts.alex showed us his sketching at iisac 11 and iv'e been keen to have a go,alex makes it look easy but sitting there last night not knowing where to start i thought they have come out not to bad...getting or your gear in the right position and red light at the correct angle is going to be a learning curve.......
meade 14"sct with 35 panoptic at 102x,no filters seeing was not to good,transparency was fair lots of high faint cloud...:shrug:that's summer...
104318

104319

[CChelle]

They really do look just like GCs look in my scope. Well done!

[Paddy]

Great sketches Peter, they really capture the clusters well.

[mozzie]

thanks michelle and patrick...it's something iv'e wanted to do for a long time and after meeting alex and getting some tips i hope to go down this path and produce some nice sketches....

[mental4astro]

Mozzie, very, very good start! Straight into the deep end with nothing less than two GC's!

You have achieved a nice amount of depth in the cores giving them a lovely glow. And the painstaking effort with the hundreds of surrounding stars is gold.

Please, do keep them coming.

Alex.

[mozzie]

thanks alex,yes i was trying to remember everything you taught us but like everything in life it is trial and error....i have been so keen to do some sketching but the weather has been sad and also full moon.....no viewing for awhile down to newcastle for a couple of weeks to lay bricks, bugger :(

[mental4astro]

Hi folks,

I wasn't able to get to a dark site this November New Moon, but I also wasn't about to let the best evening sky Sydney's just about had all year go unexploited.

I've been wanting to see how a large sketch would go using A3 paper, so I aimed for a three in one combination of M42, M43 & the Running Man (NGC 1977) nebulae. Being done from my backyard at home in Sydney, the full potential of the trio wouldn't quite be there, but the exercise was to push the envelop composition wise and see what to look out for when I revisit the trio from a dark site.

Using my 17.5", the field of view in the sketch is approximately that seen with my 30mm TMB Paragon, a bit over 1degree. This leaves the Running Man half cut out, and M42 also cropped, but the full extent of it wasn't visible from home.

I also mixed up the pastels used too, this time employing white, green and blue pastels.

There's something not quite right with the depiction of M42. I'll leave it to having done the sketch after midnight and fatigue being a factor.

I hope you still enjoy it.

Objects: M42, M43 & NGC 1977
Scope: 17.5" push-pull dob
Gear: 16mm Unitron Konig, 125X, & OIII filter
Date: 27th November 2011
Location: Sydney, Oz
Media: White, blue & green pastels, black charcoal & white ink on A3 size black paper
Duration: 2hrs.

[michaellxv]

Wow an A3 sketch, that's a big undertaking. I would think this is best done over more than one night. Maybe from your backyard do the first layers and capture the bright stuff, get the star placement right. Then from a dark site you can add the finer detail over the top. That way you are not trying to work the finer detail with tired eyes.

[mental4astro]

Thanks Michael.

It is a good suggestion that of doing the sketch in stages. It is a good idea when you know that a particular sketch is going to take many hours to complete, such a staggered sketch is a good fatigue control mechanism. Three hours at the eyepiece does leave me rather stuffed by the end. Not so just the eyes at times, but also the body with all the resticted, controlled movement.

[michaellxv]

I had a work trip to Sydney last month and was able to catch up with Alex. He gave me an impromptu personal lesson which was great. It was very nice to see his sketches for real. There is something a bit different about holding a piece of paper than looking at a scanned image.

While in Sydney I found time to drop into Bintel and drool. And picked up a UHC filter. Anyway last friday I finaly took it for a spin and was very impressed with the difference it makes. There is now more structure in M42 and the Tarantula that wasn't there before.

Here is my sketch of M42 from that night.

[mental4astro]

Michael, very nice sketch there mate, :). You've managed to lay down so much faint and expansive detail. Nicely done with M43 too. It is surprisingly textured too.

Next new Moon, have another look at M42, and spend some time with higher powers on it. You should be able to pick up more details that you may want to add to your sketch. You'll be amazed what you'll pick up at around 125X and 200X, particularly around the dark pillar and the Trapesium.

[Paddy]

Very nice sketch Michael. You are catching up to the master. Well done.

[michaellxv]

Thanks Alex.
Next new moon is Christmas day, I see that going down really well :lol:



Thanks Paddy, that's very kind of you. As long as I am improving I'm happy.

[barx1963]

OK everyone, please be gentle. I have a had a first go a a real life sketch. Did a few practice ones before trying in the dark. First thing I have discovered is that the dark adds a whole new dimension to the difficulty of rendering a sketch. Much harder to get nice round stars, spacing of objects is much harder. So anyways I decided to have a go at Stu Parkers SN in 1404 as I had observed the field only a fortnight ago over 3 nights so could find it without even a chart.
Attached is my result, the second one has the SN marked.

Malcolm

[michaellxv]

Well done Malcolm. You have all the major elements of what you set out to sketch so nothing wrong there. You now have a permanent record of your observation of that SN.

To get pin point round stars make sure your pencil is sharp. Put it down once on the paper and roll it between your thumb and fingers then lift. Don't attempt to go over it, you will miss in the dark. Touch it up once inside if needs be.

Use a seperate pencil for galaxies and nebulae. I got myself a range of pencils to experiment with, they are cheap enough.

You might also find that inverting the image gives a more pleasing final result. Gimp is sufficient for this, you don't need anything fancy.

[Paddy]

Yaayyyyy Malcolm!!!! Very nice sketch. It is certainly a challenge to manage all this in the dark and you've done a great job. I agree with Michael's comments about how to get stars as points and it does often require some post-processing. Nice obs as well given that you must have had some serious LP from the moon.

:thumbsup:

[barx1963]

Thanks Paddy.
The obs itself was tough. Really only the core of 1404 was visible which is why the SN is showing right on the edge. That may have helped a bit as the moonage reduced the visibility of the low surface brightness outer envelope of the galaxy allowing the SN to stand out more

[mental4astro]

Nicely done Malcom. Interesting to read how the Moon in a way worked to you advantage. I am really pleased that you've been inspired to have a crack at rendering a sketch. And as Michael mentioned, a wonderful record of what in a short amount of time will never be visible again!

I hope we get to see some more sketches from you here.

[barx1963]

Thanks Alex. I will be interested to see how the SN looks when we have a little less moon (if it lasts that long!) to see if the the effect I thought was there exists. Certainly the galaxy appeared larger a couple of weeks ago when I observed it so hopefully the effect is true.

Not sure if I have the patience for sketching. Only time will tell!

Malcolm

[mental4astro]

Malcom, an astro sketch doesn't need to take three hours. Some, such as of faint galaxies can be done in a few minutes! I had recently shown Michael how easy it is to use the Mellish technique. The sketch you've posted could be done in less than 5 min. Something like the Mararian's Chain of Galaxies could be done in less than 20! You'll be pleasantly surprised.

[barx1963]

NGC 1514
Well had another go at a sketch tonight. Pretty happy with it, stars look a bit nicer. Not sure about the DSO itself, think I may have it a little big!
Anyways this is a nice PN in Taurus, very bright central star with the neb itself only really coming out with the OIII filter.

[Paddy]

Well done Malcolm, agrees very well with the DSS image

[Paddy]

Got a brief bit of clear dark sky the other night to sketch the supernova in NGC 1404, reworked with Mellish technique, 16" dob 250X

[barx1963]

Nice one Paddy. The positioning within the halo is abit closer to what I saw on Thursday night. When I did the sketch the moongae was making most of the halo disappear. If corse your site and 16" helps a bit as well.

Must remember to put directions on my sketches!

Thanks for comments re NGC 1514.

Malcolm

[mozzie]

i have done a sketch of comet lovejoy....i had driven a little north and west of my home moonee beach to get away from coffs harbour light pollution and went to nana glen.my sketch was of naked eye though i did look through my binos as the comet is a ripper to see,it is from ground level up into crux say 30 to 35 degress trying to get as much in as possible.this is my third sketch iv'e attempted so i tried to get the milkyway in as well to give some perspective of how big the comet's tail has become.
the sketch had taken around 45 minutes to complete and i was very nervous trying to sketch it and to keep things in proportion.hope you enjoy my sketch it's a path i wish to take in astronomy.....
106500
thanks mozzie

[Paddy]

Excellent sketch Peter. A very accurate rendition, even including the Coal Sack.

[michaellxv]

Nice one Peter looks good.

[mozzie]

thanks patrick and michael..yes trying to do dark nub's and milky way and achieving what i,m seeing in a sketch...it's a gig learning curve....

if the comet gets high enough i'm going to sketch what i see in the eyepiece but i loose 25 degress all around me with the bush..

[mental4astro]

Peter, Oh you lucky, lucky man. I have not had a single chance to see Lovejoy at all this summer. I haven't had a scope out since the start of December either.

You've teased me mercilessly with this sketch, :mad2: :lol:. Such a lovely rendition.

I really think this a worthy candidate for an Astronomy Sketch of the Day (http://www.asod.info/). Really Mozzie, a magnificent sketch of a rare event! Naked eye too. Brilliant. :thumbsup:. We've seen plenty of lovely pictures of Lovejoy, but this is the first sketch I've seen, and unaided!

I'm enjoying your sketch very much Mozz.

Alex.

[mental4astro]

Hi folks,

Pickings have been slim so far this season. I haven't done a DSO sketch since October last year. So this offering is of the second sketch I did at IISAC last year.

This was my first view of Thor's Helmet (thanks Greg, :)). While transperancy wasn't perfect, I was surprised at how easy it was to make out the double bubble feature in the middle of the crown. Yet I couldn't quite make out the fainter extensions that extend in the opposite from the pictured plumes. A consequence of the lacking transperancy.

Object: Thor's Helmet, NGC 2359
Scope: 17.5" push-pull dob
Gear: 16mm Konig, 125X, and OIII filter
Date: 30th October, 2011
Location: Lostock, NSW, Oz during IISAC '11
Media: white pastel and charcoal pencils on A4 black paper.

[Paddy]

Very accurate rendition Alex.

[mozzie]

nicely done alex........a pleasure as always viewing your sketches........

[michaellxv]

I took some inspiration from Les's article in Jan AS&T and had a look at NGC1647. It is a very nice OC that I have over looked until now.

It's been a while since I did any sketching so a nice OC seemed like a good place to dive back in.

[mental4astro]

Very true, Michael. Nicely done too.

[Paddy]

Well done Michael.

[pgc hunter]

Centaurus A

8" Dob, 184x

Northern hemisphere appeared fainter and smaller than its southern counter part, and somewhat uneven in brightness where it appeared to be brighter adjacent the NW boundary of the dark lane. A mag 12 star was seen superimposed at the NW end of the lane with some surrounding haze within the rift itself. A star is located 'within' the south hemisphere and a very faint star was seen at the SW boundary of the rift.

[Paddy]

Great sketch Sab, as always!

[jjjnettie]

You people are amazing!!
I'm loving going through this gallery of work.

[mental4astro]

Hey Sab, very soft touch there. The Hambuger is a tough subject as so much of it is all averted vision. Well done mate.

[mozzie]

nice sketch sab :thumbsup:

[michaellxv]

Nice sketch Sab, this one has eluded me so far.

[pgc hunter]

Thanks guys. Centaurus A is a fairly low surface brightness object, and as Alex said, averted vision is your best friend. It seems to be universally heralded by the folks on CN, but if you observe this one under light pollution, it's low surface brightness will render it somewhat unimpressive.

[Rob_K]

Haven't done a sketch in a while - here's Mars tonight at around 12:45am. Rough line sketch at eyepiece, redrawn. Detail was very low contrast and seeing wasn't all that good. Took a while before I tuned in to the subtle shading differences but the ice cap was quite clear from the start. Mars at 225x is still pretty small!

Cheers -

[mental4astro]

Sensational stuff, Rob! Really ripping the best out of your 114 scope.

:thumbsup:

[Paddy]

Fantastic sketch Rob. And as Alex says, what you get out of that scope is amazing!

[pgc hunter]

Very nice Rob :thumbsup: You da man! You really demonstrate what can be done with a modest aperture scope in the right hands :thumbsup:

[pgc hunter]

Did a sketch of Mars this morning under very good seeing.

Used the 8" dob and 3.5mm eyepiece at 342x. Two cloud features were seen at the preceding limb and a bank of subtle haze along the opposite limb and along the south under the elongated dark feature.

Time UT: 23/2/12 , 15.30
Time Local: 24/2/12 , 02.30
CM: 199.65
Mag -1.1
Size 13.6"

I'll try and get a coloured version up a bit later

[orestis]

Hi everyone:hi:,

Its been ages since I have done any serious observing let alone post on Iceinspace so, I thought I'd share this sketch I made of ngc 2438 in m46 yesterday (24/2/12).Magnification used was 250x and I also used my recently aquired O III filter which accentuated the detail.

Regards Orestis

[Paddy]

Great sketches Sab and Orestis. Very good observing in both drawings!

Here's one I made last night of NGCs 1850, 1854, 1858 (all on LHS of sketch), 1860 in centre and 1863 bottom RHS. Henize N103B just to the left of 1850.

Made using 16" dob with 13mm nagler, 175x TFOV 28'

[mental4astro]

What a great trio: Solar system, galactic and extra galactic subjects.

Very nice detail you've picked up off Mars, Sab. Cloud formations on the Red Planet have always intrigued me.

Orestis, this PN isn't a big sucker, yet you've managed to squeeze quite a bit out of it. 250X with a push-pull dob - nice...

Paddy, THIS is good! The rotten weather I've had here has robbed me of the chance to pin this collection of objects this season. I had been wondering how wide a field these objects spanned. I imagined that they would be able to take quite some magnification, but they whole lot is quite concentrated. There is so much happening there.

<sigh>, one day I may get to see it too, <sigh> . And the Horsie, <sigh>. I had planned to get this one in the bag this season too. Now, another year gone...

[Ed D]

I have really enjoyed looking at all the sketches. I'm surprised that there aren't more planetary sketches right now, but the DSOs are good to awesome. Living in South Florida I get a good view of a lot of the Southern sky and the sketches definitely help me. Thanks all for posting them.

Ed D

[orestis]

Thanks for the comments guys,



Amazing sketch Paddy,great detail

I really should start getting into observing these amazing sattelite galaxies of ours.

Thanks for posting
Orestis
Ps-:mad2:clouds have returned and the moon is waxing so if I have a break from the school work load if ever,I still won't be able to observe.

[michaellxv]

Wow, you guys have been hard at work. Well done.



I've tried loooking at Mars but really can't make out anything more than the polar cap and occasional non specific darker areas. Mostly it is overwhelmed by glare.



I've been looking at M46 also and have an unfinished sketch. Waiting for the clouds to go away.



Fantastic Paddy to get all those objects in.

[michaellxv]

Hi all,

Here are some of my recent sketching efforts.

10" Lightbridge, 26mm, 15mm

While M46 & M47 are apparently close together M46 is 2 to 3 times further away. M46 shows many more stars than M47 and has a much denser appearance. M46 also contains the plentary nebula NGC2438 although there is some dispute as to wheather this PN is part of M46 or just in our line of site.

Over the weekend there was a conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the waxing crescent moon. Due to clouds I was unable to get a clear view until Tuesday.

Michael.

[orestis]

Great sketches Michael,

Particularly like the conjuction sketch.Great work.

Cheers Orestis

[pgc hunter]

Thanks Alex. The 8" does seem to do well when contrast is concerned, the clouds were pretty easy to pick out.





Very nice sketch Paddy, really illustrates what awaits the scope in our nearest galatic neighbour. We are very fortunate indeed :thumbsup:


Good stuff mate, I think you've captured the nebula very well. I've got a sketch of this object and it is almost identical to yours.

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

I've been able to blow out some cobwebs of late. Ment I could give my new 11X70 binos a go.

Such a wonderful time of the year for wide field views. Binoculars are a great way to take in so much of it.

I thought I'd do a sketch of the rich area between Eta Carina and the huge open cluster NGC 3532. My most detailed charts show at least a further 6 open clusters that sit within this area. It is magnifacently lacey and mottled in appearance - even from my backyard in Sydney.

The challenge with this sketch is to attempt to reproduce some of that mottled texture on the page. Almost like working with shades of dark and darker, ;). It will be awesome to use these binos at a dark site.

Object: Area from NGC 3372 to NGC 3532
Gear: 11X70 binoculars
Date: 23rd Feb. 2012
Location: Sydney, Oz
Media: White pastel, black charchoal and ink on A4 size paper
Duration: approx 2hrs

[pgc hunter]

very, very nice mate, absolutely fantastic sketch and hats off to you for taking the effort to tackle this rich and dense region. :thumbsup: The Mellish technique really shines! I shall try it myself next time :)

[michaellxv]

:thumbsup: what a stunning sketch. Full of complex detail from a fantastic area of the sky. It just looks so real. well done Alex.

[Ric]

Awesome widefield Alex

One of your best for sure.

[barx1963]

That is just awesome Alex.

Malcolm

[Paddy]

Is there no subject too grand for this man to render to perfection? This just looks like it does in the eyepiece. Stunning!

[pgc hunter]

Just a random pick from the archives - NGC 5189 Spiral Planetary in Musca.

12" F/4.4 dob
13mm EP + 2x Barlow at 205x
OIII filter

[orestis]

Sensational sketch Sab:thumbsup:,

Realistic representation,looks just like I saw it about a week ago.

It is quite a special Pn.

Thankds for posting
regards Orestis:)

[mozzie]

nice sketch !!!!!!
attempted this p/n myself last month.. but not happy with result.......

[mental4astro]

Very striking sketch, Sab. Quite an unusal PN with its rhomboidal shape. Keen eye and good control of the media to keep the shape.

:thumbsup:

[Paddy]

Great sketch Sab and very much how it appears in the eyepiece. Well done.

[mental4astro]

The atmosphere appears to be finally drying out. Viewing from near home, in Randwick, on the 24th of March, DSO's were noticably easier to see and make out detail in. The clearest for a very long time.

Thought I'd tackle a Monster too. This one's been taunting me for some time. Teasing through the mushy viewing during the last year. It's "Eye" staring back in defiance.

Here is my shot at Omega Centauri using my 17.5". So mind numbingly complex in structure. Its core shows it's "eye" looking back, which is washed out in long exposure photos. This is Omega's most outstanding signature feature.

Object: Omega Centauri, NGC 5139
Scope: 17.5" push-pull dob
Gear: 16mm Unitron Konig, 125X
Date: 24th March 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia
Media: Pastels, charcoal and white ink on A4 size black paper.
Time: 2.5hrs

[Poita]

I'd never thought about it before, but it does look like a huge disembodied eyeball.

Only 2.5hrs work? I would have thought it would have been 5x that amount!

[Paddy]

Not only incredibly talented but brave. I can't imagine summoning up the gumption to take on Omega Centauri. Superb yet again Alex!

[mental4astro]

Thank you Peter and Paddy.

This next sketch I've had to keep close to my chest for a little while. It is one of my entries to the Scott Mellish Sketching Competition.

The Eta Carina complex is a staggering region of the sky. Within the field of view of the sketch there is so much happening. Not only is the star that lends its name to the nebula there, but its associated "death throe's cocoon" is visible - the Homunculus Nebula (the white blister to the left of the Keyhole), three separate shockwave fronts (the Keyhole feature being one of them, which in turn is being pushed towards us by the wave produced by Eta Carina too), and six individually named open star clusters.

I've been wanting to do this sketch from a dark sky site for a long time. Conditions and circumstance ment I had to be happy with doing this sketch from my backyard in Sydney. I'll need to wait a little longer to revisit this region from a dark site.

I normally do not restrict my sketches to sit within the "circle of death", but as this work was to be one of my entries to the competition, the "circle" exists.

I hope you enjoy this piece. It took just over two hours to complete. Two very enjoyable hours.

Mental.

Object: Eta Carina complex
Scope: 17.5" push-pull dobsonian
Gear: Unitron 16mm Konig, 125X, OIII filter
Date: 13th March, 2012
Location: Sydney, Oz
Media: White pastel and charcoal on black paper. "circle" diameter is 16cm.
Duration: just over 2hrs.

[erick]

With an NPB filter on your eyepiece, you might have to start again? :D

I'm amazed at your patience, Alex, that is a long time on an object!

[Scorpius51]

Outstanding, Alex! It has real depth. Your patience is inspiring.

Cheers
John

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

I took inspiration from a recent thread on M20 to have a crack at this beautiful beastie.

Neat through the eyepiece, its soft glow is not the brightest against the background skyglow. Still, its distinct lane markings are easy to see.

Using an OIII/Hbeta filter in my 17.5" dobbie, I saw a remarkable thing. Not only does it stand out much more clearly, as to be expected, but the main "flower" of M20 had to my eyes a distinct purple/violet hue to it. Especially considering that the violet end of the spectrum our eyes at this dim level of illumination, do not pick up this colour well at all. Actually, we shouldn't see it! But there it was, soft in value, but definately violet to my eyes.

The lanes of M20 are a nice challenge as they required averted vision to make out more clearly. Their twisting, winding nature also giving hints to a striated/filamentary structure.

There is an open cluster close by to M20, which I would have liked to have captured in this sketch, but I got the proportions not quite right as the cluster is just beyond the field of view in the 24mm Hyperion I was using. Bit of a shame as the two together would make for a very striking composition. I'll look to revisit M20 and its celestial companion sometime soon. I'd also like to tackle M20 at higher magnification too - this is one DSO that begs for a more careful inspection.

Object: M20, the Trifid Nebula
Scope: 17.5" push-pull dob
Gear: 24mm Hyperion, 83X, OIII/Hbeta filter
Date: 23rd April, 2012
Location: Katoomba Airfield, Oz
Media: White and violet soft pastels and black charcoal on A4 size black paper. Sketch about 16cm in diameter
Duration: 2hrs

[pgc hunter]

Love it Alex! Good amount of detail in those lanes.

[Paddy]

Superb Alex.

[mental4astro]

I just looovvveeee my 8" f/4 dobbie - I can get a massive 2.5deg FOV using my 30mm TMB Paragon. A bit big in exit pupil, but I can live with that. And now that she's got legs, I can comfortably sit in a chair and use her, rather than be on my knees.

Here is my WIDE FIELD attempt over the weekend. With this 8" beastie I am able to capture within the whole FOV M8, M20 and squeeze in M21. On their own each DSO is gorgeous. Together, WOW, what a collection.

It was done from home in Sydney with conditions being ok. A couple of nights previous the dark lanes in M20 were much clearer to make out. This night not so well, and I didn't want to include them as I just couldn't get their direction and shape, only a faint hint.

I also did notice some faint nebulosity to the right of M8 in the "void" between it and M20. Soft and amorphous. This will be quite a vista from a dark site.

Object: M8, M20 & M21
Scope: 8" f/4 dob
Gear: 30mm TMB Paragon, 27X, 2.54 deg FOV, OIII filter
Date: 27th May 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia
Media: White pastel, charcoal & white ink on black paper
Time: about 1hr

[pgc hunter]

Gorgeous wide field there Alex. That nebulosity you picked up between M8 and M20 is a dense starcloud.

[Ed D]

I started sketching this past December using a #2 pencil and printer paper, my first ones of Jupiter. After my first sketch of Mars I started using my daughter's colored sketching pencils and soon bought a small sketching pad. Anyway, with the planets poised for such a good show I did a few of Jupiter and Mars, as well as a couple of Venus.

Recently I was trying out a new polarizing filter and decided to test it on Antares to see if it would cut the glare of the primary, making it a bit easier to see the secondary. Well, it worked. It was such a nice sight I decided to record it in a sketch, which is my first non-planetary.

They're not exactly stupendous or jaw-dropping, but I think they're not half bad for a beginner and wanted to share them with you all. The Jupiter sketch was my first. The pink Mars sketch was done using my Orion Mars Filter. The other three have better descriptions, which I started including as my sketching progressed.

Ed D

[Scorpius51]

Well done Ed! Absolutely delightful collection.
I would love to see a sketchbook full of those. Keep it up.

Cheers
John :thumbsup:

[Scorpius51]

Another great sketch Alex. Well done!
That is one cute 8", too.

Cheers
John :thumbsup:

[Ed D]

I finally had a couple of clear nights in South Florida and did two wide field sketches of Omega Centauri. One is a binocular view using my 8x56 Oberwerk, the other a RFT view using my AT72ED with 24mm Hyperion for 18x. These are my first DSO sketches which I really enjoyed doing - much easier than planetary without a tracking mount! I'll hopefully have more coming, weather and time permitting. Thanks for looking and I hope you like them.

Ed D

[Paddy]

Impressive results Ed. Looking forward to more of your work.

[Ed D]

I finished up another wide field sketch, this one of globular cluster M22 and the surrounding region in the 'Tea Pot', as viewed through 8x56 binoculars in light pollution. I'm pretty new at this and I see where I can make improvements, but it's not too bad.

Ed D

[mental4astro]

Nice work Ed.

Two killer GCs. I was having a bit of a squiz at M22 tonight. I contemplated sketching it but the dew became absurd so quickly after setting up. It is quite a beasty. Such lovely curvey lines of stars - broad too. And such a range of magnitudes. I noticed some nice yellow and almost reddish stars in it - actually, it's the first GC I've noticed some colour in.

I also like a fellow that isn't affraid to tackle a nice wide field!

Good stuff.

[Ed D]

John, Patrick, Alex, thanks for the positive comments. I hope to keep them coming as time and weather permit. I found that I really enjoy low power, wide field sketching, just have to keep getting better at it.

Alex, it was the 'June wide field challenge' you posted on Cloudy Nights that steered me in this direction. Initially I didn't think I could do it, but decided to try anyway and I'm glad I did. In addition to NGC6231 I want to try Mel 111, the Coma Berenices Star Cluster, which I was looking at last night.

Ed D

[mental4astro]

Mmmmm, NGC 6231...

The Scorpio OB Association, or the Table of Scorpio: What a grouping! 6 OCs & emission & dark nebulae, all within a couple of degrees! Makes me week at the knees! I've only "discovered" this tinderbox of stellar treasures recently!

If you can get hold of a really fast scope, like an 8" f/4, & an OIII filter, this area is "suck your eyeballs out of your head" stuff! It is such a detailed area.

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

Paddy suggested I sketch the Grus Trio in another thread. I had actually sketched them back in April but never got around to posting it.

The Trio is actually a quartet of interacting galaxies. The fourth one lies about 30 minutes south (?) of the Trio.

I like to call this group the "Dinosaur Killers" because their average distance is calculated to be around the same time as when the dinosaurs became extinct some 65 million years ago. To me it is amazing that the photons arriving at my eyes through the eyepiece left these galaxies at around the same time that a mass extinction was happening here on Earth. I just love these coincidences. Makes history a little more tangible and palpable.

April was the only opportunity I've had in the last 12 months to sketch from a dark site, and only over three hours after the first 7 hours of the evening were overcast, :mad2:.

This quartet is just wholly attainable in my 17.5", as the four lie within the FOV of my 30mm TMB Paragon. Conditions were ok, so some detail was had at 66X. The 'forth' member, NGC 7552, exhibiting the greatest amount of detail with a significantly brighter core with its bar spanning out. 7552 is one of the few barred galaxies with an easily seen bar across its face.

This a grouping I'll like to visit again individually. At higher magnification they should reveal a whole lot more structure.

Object: Grus Quartet, NGC 7552, 7582 7590 & 7599
Scope: 17.5" f/4.5 push-pull dob
Gear: 30mm TMB Paragon, 67X, approx 1deg FOV
Location: Katoomba Airfield, Oz
Date: 23rd April, 2012
Media: White soft pastel and ink on black A4 size paper
Time: approx 1hr

[Paddy]

Very nice indeed Alex!

[pgc hunter]

Lovely representation of a lovely group of galaxies Alex.

[Ed D]

It's been several months since I posted here. I recently did this sketch of Jupiter's 'boring' side using my AT72ED and binoviewer from my home in Miami, Florida. That night the conditions were very good. Other than the NEB being a bit too pronounced and ruddy, and the NPC being a bit too yellow, it's pretty much what I observed at the eyepiece. The colors are there, just very subtle. The light areas of the planet are a bit off white, the SEB brownish, and the SPC has a hint of blue. There is also a bit of shading at the terminator. NOTE: The eyepieces were Astro-Tech, not Celestron as noted on the sketch.

Ed D

[Ed D]

Here's a sketch I did on our last dark sky outing at Everglades National Park on the tip of the Florida peninsula. This one was observed through my 6" f/8 with my 24mm Baader Hyperion eyepiece. That night started out so bad we almost packed it up and went home, but ended up being one of the clearest nights I can remember. Even so, the Triangulum Galaxy is DIM!!! I had to observe it for the better part of the night to grasp the detail that could be seen. It was fascinating to me.

I'm attaching the original, as well as a 'negative' of the sketch. Somehow the negative comes out brighter than what I actually observed. The core and spirals should be dimmer, but I couldn't correct it in my program without obliterating the galactic disk. The original is a good representation of what I observed at the eyepiece.

Ed D

[mental4astro]

Ed, my apology for not responding earlier to your beautiful sketch of M33. Things here have been very tough for observers for a very long time, and it had been getting depressing for me to come to the Obs forum when I hadn't been able to add in a contructive manner. It is staggering that you are able to see so much detail in M33 with just a 6" scope. I had been hoping to sketch M33 too, but the poor conditions killed that chance for this season. I'm glad you've been able to though!

~X~

Below is my first DSO sketch since April last year. Not my best effort, but it was good to get the blood and pencils moving again.

A perpetual favourite is M42. And it is deceptively difficult to sketch. With the lack of practice, I'm a little flat in my technique. But, it felt so good to get to do a sketch again.

This is also the first sketch and serious use of my modified 13mm Hyperion. An orthodox 13mm Hyperion displays terrible pincushion in a very fast Newtonian. I changed the Symthe field lens for an ordinary 2X barlow lens and the difference is staggering - a lovely flat FOV, tack sharp stars, and the eye relief that I was concerned about not once did it become an issue. I am most impressed now with this EP now. I was impressed at how extensive the observable nebulosity was, and from home in Sydney too. Oh so soft and faint extensions of the famous scallop shape nebula were to be seen, and the more I looked the more I saw. A very good night for Sydney skies.

Here's hoping that this coming new Moon will finally give us the long expected and awaited clear night's observing...

Object: M42 & M43
Scope: 8" f/8 push-pull dob
Gear: Modified 13mm Hyperion, 62X, OIII filter
Date: 5/1/2013
Location: Sydney, Oz
Duration: 1.5hrs
Media: White and black charcoal & ink on A4 sized black paper

[Scorpius51]

Lovely sketches Ed, particularly M33. Lovely subtle detail.

Alex, as usual, raising the bar for us mortals. A lovely M42. I was looking in the same direction 2 nights ago thinking "I will draw that one day"!

Thanks for sharing with us guys. Look forward to seeing much more of this in 2013.

Cheers
John

[mental4astro]

Thanks John for your comments, :)

Well, I finally got some dark sky time! :D What a lovely night too. I only got to do the one sketch, but I'm very happy and satisfied with just the one. I had a few targets on my "to do list", but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

Here in IIS, fellow members Paddy and GlenC have put me on a bit of a triple quest. Paddy has a fascination with the Magellanic Clouds, GlenC with the Dunlop objects, and I with anything that is waaaaayyyy too complex, :lol: . The target became a part of this triple quest is within a rich region of the LMC that's also rich in Dunlop objects, and profuse with faint & tenuous glow. It is the area surrounding the intense open cluster NGC 1850.

Until recently, 1850 was considered to be a Globular cluster. Recent spectral analysis of it has revealed it to be a giant OC that is actually younger than any other OC in the Milky Way. The size and number of stars in it has allowed the cluster to remain compact for some time, hence its resemblance to a GC. The finest detailed charts available to me of the LMC (courtesy of Paddy's site "Clouds of Magellan" (http://cloudsofmagellan.net.au/)) show that the approximate 0.7 degree FOV of the sketch shows 12 other named objects around 1850. I feel I've managed to see more than that due to the finer scale of my viewing.

Dunlop objects, there are 8 in total here, their "NGC" prefix being ommited: 1850 - D172, 1854 - D119, 1856 - 118, 1858 - D120, 1860 - D172, 1863 - D173, 1866 - D247, and 1870 - D123.

At first glance at the FOV, there seems to be just the four main DSO's with maybe a hint of fainter patches of glow. As time progressed with the sketch, fainter and more extended glows appeared. Almost baby breath like extensions reach out from the cluster/nebula duo 1858, giving it an almost 'spiral galaxy' look. The same, if not even fainter, extends down from 1850 itself. And oh-so-faint arcs reach out in three other parts, one of which has an accompanying arc of stars along its leading edge. Just about every time I looked back into the EP a new glowing patch appeared, "Man, another one!" the exasperated thought came to me, :lol:.

1858, again, has such a rich and complex structure too. Its "core" is darker than the surrounding glowing mass - a rich prize on its own!

Late last year I asked here in IIS for some sketching suggestions. The end result came back as a montage of the LMC, to which I agreed. BUT, no freaking way am I going to use the same EP & scope combination to do it!!!! :eyepop: Even I am not THAT crazy.

I've included two photos of the sketch, one of which I labled using Paddy's charts as reference, and noted what each DSO is as an OC, GC of N for nebula.

I hope you like this piece. It may not be the most dramatic, but for the observing challenges that it ended up presenting, I am very happy with it.

Object: NGC 1850 et al
Scope: 17.5" f/4.5 push-pull dob
Gear: 20mm Meade S5000 SWA, 100X, OIII & NPB filters
Date: 12th Jan. 2013
Location: Katoomba Airfield, Australia
Media: soft pastel, charcoal and white ink on A4 size black paper.
Time: approx 2.5hrs

Edit: I've added an image of the LMC showing the area the sketch is within the galaxy. Image is a mosaic of the LMC, used with kind permission from Andrew Lockwood, aka Alocky, :thumbsup: .

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

Tonight conditions were much cooler than a few days ago. And I was in for a big surprise. While I would have prefered to have sketched M42 from a dark site last new Moon, conditions weren't condusive to using much magnification. Even at low power, M42 from a dark site is a totally different beast than when viewed from home.

As the sketch progressed, seeing improved. To the point that not only was able to seen Trapezium E & F, but other component stars that are even fainter! Truely remarkable! While I've seen Trap' E & F before, tonight I could count a further 6 additional stars around the Trapezium.

The second attached image is a close up of the Trapezium.

Tonight I added tha circle of death to the sketch to give the piece a little more context on what I could see though the eyepiec.

Object: M42 & M43
Scope: 17.5" f/4.5 push-pull dob
Gear: 13mm modified Hyperion, 153X, OIII filter
Date: 15th Jan. 2013
Location: Sydney, Australia.
Media: Soft pastel, chacoal & white ink on A4 sized black paper
Time: Approx 2.5 hrs.

[glenc]

Great work Alex. You certainly see a lot in the LMC with a 17.5" scope.

[Paddy]

Wooo-hoo Alex! What a set of stunners. M42 - stunning as all your sketches are. But the LMC sketch - what a joy to this obsessed observer. I love the way you've brought out all the subtleties of these clusters. Ripper, ripper, ripper!!!

[Scorpius51]

Well done Alex! Really like the way you've presented the LMC sketch, and the M42 re-visited is a corker.

I started my first drawing session at the eyepiece a few nights ago. I found it difficult to transfer what I saw in the eyepiece to the drawing pad on my knee. I seemed to lose the image in my 'minds eye' by the time I left the EP to look at the pad. There is a finite time for my eyes to adjust from EP to pad, and in that time I lose the detail that I'm seeing.

I guess it's all down to getting more experience and time doing this. What sort of lighting do you use - a pad clip-on, or head-mounted red LED type? I was using a hand-held red LED torch.

These questions are probably answered in previous discussions, so I will go and review what has been posted earlier.

Cheers
John

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

Well, I've finally bagged my first comet since Halley's so long ago.

I too have been inspired by the current thread on it. Particularly the "Freecharts" link that Suzy provided with its locator charts and table of nightly positions. The latter was invaluble as the charts did not cover tonight's position.

Thanks Suzy!

Conditions were pretty good considering Lemmon isn't too high in the sky. An oh-so-faint hint of a tail though did come and go. I included its trace detection on a couple of the "time lapse" sketches as I couldn't quite make it out by the third rendition.

I have to say that I am most impressed with my 5mm Hyperion. Of all the one's I've tried, the 5mm is the only one that's been good in my fast Newt's. Tonight I pushed it to 320X with an ED barlow and it gave me such a lovely image.

The time lapse show's Lemmon's position over just a tick more than an hour going from right to left.

Object: Comet Lemmon
Scope: 8" f/4 push-pull dob
Gear: 5mm Hyperion plus 2X ED barlow, 320X
Date: 9th Jan., 2013
Location: Sydney, Oz
Duration: time lapse of just over 1hr, 9:15pm to 10:30pm local time.
Media: Soft pastel on A4 size black paper.

approx TFOV: 11'

[orestis]

Awesome work Alex,

I really like the timelapse, you couldeven make an animated sketch with that, not that I know how.

I wonder if colour is visible in very large apertures I have yet to try with the 12'' dob, I have just observed with binos.

Thanks for posting
Orestis:thumbsup:

[mental4astro]

Thanks Orestis. Colour? I think I could make out a faint hint of bluey-green. Would need a dark site to confirm.

Tonight's close encounter of Comet Lemmon and 47 Tuc was an opportunity that couldn't go by unviewed. I'm sure that the photophiles will be busy tonight too.

I went a bit stir crazy tonight too. I set up two scopes tonight knowing that with a larger aperture the duo wouldn't be possible to view at the same time. So I set up my 8" f/4 dob and my 80mm f/5 refractor.

The first sketch is with the 8" at 80X using a 10m XW. Not only was the comet brighter than I saw last week, but its tail was also easier to tease out. It's a long thin ribbon that extends out from the nucleus, the coma and hydrogen cloud giving the comet a big 'head'.

BEHOLD! THE MIGHTY SMALL APERTURE.

I was in for a double surprise with the 80mm refractor. I used a 36mm Aspheric Hyperion here as it gives me a full 6degree TFOV - massive! Here, the advantage of a small aperture over a large one in a heavily light polluted enviroment became evident. A large aperture makes the background sky glow too intense in urban areas, making low power a difficult proposition. Yet, a smaller aperture isn't affected the same way, making low power more practical. The result here was that at 11X I could also make out the tail.

The second surprise was that just squeezing into the FOV is the smaller globular cluster NGC 362. Sadly, the SMC that would be in the FOV is just overwhelmed by the Sky Glow, even in a small scope.

In the second sketch, Lemmon is at the lower right, 47 Tuc is in the centre, and 362 is in the top left.

Both sketches took about 1/2 hr to complete.

Mental.

[Paddy]

Great sketches Alex. I love the second one seeing the three together.

[bytor666]

Lovely indeed Alex! :thumbsup:

Cheers,

[Ed D]

Alex, great sketches. I especially like the one of Lemmon/47 Tuc/362.

Ed D

[Larryp]

You are very talented at sketching, Alex:thumbsup:

[dannat]

i have read a few threads of city-siders having trouble finding M104 -so i did a quick sketch of how to find it -first naked eye view then a bino fov

[dannat]

2nd is apoor sketch thru a 6" reflector of M104 at 120x

[Jen]

Wow I love all these sketches guys keep em coming I'm so curious I really want to have a go at this myself but I'm not sure of the actual stationary that you use eg:white ink ( whats that ) lol pics or links would be great :D

[Jen]

[B]I liked this YouTube link is this how you guys do it :question:

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=QDC3R39AcSA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQDC3R39A cSA[/

A bit more info on how he put that into photoshop would be cool

[mental4astro]

Jeremy's is one approach, and a good way to start.

I use the method I named after the fellow who devised it, The Mellish Technique (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-614-0-0-1-0.html), after the late Scott Mellish. I wrote the article soon after my meeting with Scott, and he edited the article for me. It is stunningly easy to do & use. A small globular cluster that is just resolving in your eyepiece takes less than 5 minutes, including a myriad of tiny pin points of barely resolved stars.

The sketch I did of Comet Lemmon with 47Tuc took less than thirty minutes to complete. What took longest was the individual stars within the field of view. The cluster & comet less than 15.

[Jen]

Wow that's exactly what I was looking for thank you Alex I'm excited now I love stationary shopping :)

You do make it look easier than it is though :D

Wish me luck I have always wanted to draw the leo triplets it looks great in my head haha :D

[mental4astro]

Jen, tip, try out the technique using the same photos I used to do the demonstation sketches. You'll find the demo pics in the Addendum, "sketching practice" at the end of the article. You'll also pick up some more tips from the "building layers" and "star brightness range".

[Jen]

Wow that pic of Orion is a drawing ? omg that's amazing that's better than some photos I've seen awsome, do you process your drawings in photoshop also ?

[mental4astro]

Nope, I never process any sketch in any way. Every "image" you see of mine here is only ever a straight photograph of my work. Always.

The only "processing" that takes place is I take half a dozen photos of my work, with a fixed exposure & varying only the aperture of the camera, then select the photo that best represents my work. Nothing more.

[Jen]

Nice that is very clever your sketches are amazing Alex I can't wait to go stationary shopping now :lol: :thumbsup:

[Jen]

:hi: hi guys well that was fun stationary shopping now I'm all set and ready to go :) yayyyy bring on the weekend............ I'm not sure what to try first maybe just a few clusters to begin with something easy :D

137046

[mental4astro]

Jen, does look like you did a good raid on a shop, :)

First targets? No. 1, the Jewel Box - without question.

No. 2, Sombrero galaxy.

No. 3, a small GC.

But, before you head for the scope, do a few practice pieces with the images I used to produce the article with to familiarise yourself with the handling of the materials. You will see just how quick, easy and effective the Mellish Technique really is.

Clear skies & sharp pencils, :)

[Jen]

Thanks Alex :D

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

I had a look up the night sky tonight, and I had a suspicion that even though transparency wasn't great, the atmosphere was in good nic to punch the magnification. And it was!

Saturn was my sweetheart tonight.

My trusty 8" f/4 scope was my weapon of choice. Sets up in 1min, and I didn't feel like setting up the C8. With the f/4 ratio, tonight was the first time I really got to use my 2X 2" ED Barlow - I've only had it for a year, :rolleyes: . But it was the right tool for the job tonight. I combined it with my 5mm Hyperion and 360X was on offer. And tonight Saturn was tack sharp with very little thermal disruption.

A lot of detail was had. The A ring was for once noticeably darker than the B ring. The Cassini division was a delight to follow, just slipping out of definition as it crossed right in front of the gas giant's disk. The C ring too was plainly visible on the inside. The cloud structure was easy to make out. The equatorial banding was darker, and a little streakish/banded. And the polar region a little darker too.

Of particular delight was to notice the softening of the disks leeward side from the sun's direction. It gave the planet a rather impressive 3D effect. And being just past opposition, a very thin strip of the shadow of the disk could be seen being cast across the rings. On the near side, a nice little flaring of the rings shadow on the disk could be noticed on the disk's limbs. It was a very nice session tonight, spent on this Ring Master.

Size of sketched disk approx. 20mm.

Object: Saturn
Scope: 8" f/4 push pull dob
Gear: 5mm Hyperion plus 2X 2" ED Barlow, 360X
Date: 12th June, 2013
Location: Sydney, Australia
Media: Graphite and coloured soft pastels onto white paper, pasted onto black.

[barx1963]

Alex

Lovely description and very nice sketch. Makes me think about pumping the power in my new 8" f4!!
Just a minor point but shouldn't the power be given as 320x?:screwy: 200x4/5x2=320

Malcolm

[mental4astro]

:doh:

You're right Malcolm, I'm wrong!

[Paddy]

Stunning sketch Alex and the notes are nearly as vivid!

[Starlad]

Now that's talent, my grandfather use to produce detail like this 60 years ago

[FJA]

I've borrowed a Coronado PST and had a go at sketching the Sun. Here are a couple of the recent sketches and the others can be found here http://www.fjastronomy.com/the-sun-spot/solar-observing-2013/

[bigjoe]

Thanks Dan.Ive kept this for when I couldnt be bothered with go tos.A grea:thumbsup:t help.Cheers

[mental4astro]

January! January was the last time I did a DSO sketch!

Finally the drought broke on Sunday morning with two. Both of extra galactic treasures.

First was the nebula and open cluster complex NGC 346 in the SMC. I’ve been wanting to sketch this system since my first look at it. For being so far away, it is very bright, so the member stars of the cluster must be very big to be so bright.

At first glance, the nebula has an appearance of a kidney. The top lobe being immediately brighter as it houses the cluster. There is a dark lane that separates the cluster from the crest of the lobe. This lane is a band of dust that is more detailed in photographs.

The surroundings of 346 are spectacular too. The overall background is bright and somewhat ‘nebulous’ due to the mottling from the multitude of unseen stars within the SMC. Adding to the spectacular collection of DSOs in this area is another bright open cluster and nebula complex, NGC 371, just to the north of 346. The cluster is larger in size than 346, and the nebulosity more tenuous, so I suspect that 371 is older and therefore the cluster’s members have spread apart from each other and the gas and dust of the nebula dispersed – something like the Pleiades.

Just to the east of 346 was a softly glowing ball, which could be another open cluster, IC 1611.

Object: NGC 346, NGC 371 and IC 1611
Scope: 17.5” f/4.5 push-pull dob
Gear: 13mm modified Baader Hyperion, 154X, +OIII filter
Location: Katoomba Airfield, Oz
Date: 3rd November, 2013
Media: White soft pastel and charcoal on A4 size black paper.

The second sketch of NGC 1365 was a delight to do. From my location, it goes straight overhead. As the sketch progressed, the leading edge of the northern arm (lower arm in sketch) seemed brighter than the leading edge of the southern arm. As more time transpired, I was surprised to notice so many more foreground stars in the area than first inspection reveals.

Object: NGC 1365
Scope: 17.5” f/4.5 push-pull dob
Gear: 13mm modified Baader Hyperion, 154X
Location: Katoomba Airfield, Oz
Date: 3rd November 2013
Media: White soft pastel and charcoal on A4 black paper.

[AstroJason]

Really nice work there Alex, your patience really shows in the detail of your sketches. To think you are working pretty much off the ground on a small ladder and you have to keep moving the dob to keep the object in view. Just really shows how much patience and dedication you have. It is inspiring me to give it a try next time we're at the airfield.

[michaellxv]

Very nice work Alex, good to see you haven't lost your touch.

[Paddy]

Fantastic sketches as always Alex. NGC 346 is amazingly bright for some 200,000 ly. SMC's equivalent of NGC 2070 I gather.

Love the NGC 1365 too!

[mental4astro]

Hi all,

On the spur of the moment my kids and I jumped in the car and headed out bush to a mate’s place in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. We were lucky with the sky conditions with this start of the New Year. The kids had been wanting to see the Milky Way, shooting stars, satellites and galaxies. It was wonderful to be able to tick off all of these with them. We were also fortunate to have a great flyover of the ISS too! The kids also got to hear the chirping clicks of the tiny local insectivorous bats, the hooting of an owl. And I aged 10 years when a blasted 10” long stick insect crash landed on my sketch pad!

Only once the kids were asleep did I do any observing for my own. This time around I took my latest acquisition, and smallest scope, a 4” f/5 refractor. Packed only one eyepiece too, my new ES 30mm 82°. This combo gives me a TFOV of a full 5°!

The target I settled on was one I’ve done several times before in larger scopes, Eta Carina. One thing I’ve learnt with observing is it is all very well to examine a large extended DSO with a big scope, but so much is lost with the resulting small TFOV. Go down in aperture size, and be under dark sky conditions, and you will be rewarded with the full extent of the DSO.

So, here it is - the Goliath that is Eta Carina as seen with small aperture under cracker jack conditions.

Object: Eta Carina, NGC 3372
Scope: 4” f/5 achro refractor
Gear: ES 30mm 82°, 17X (5° TFOV) & OIII filter
Location: Blue Mountains, NSW, Oz
Date: 3rd January, 2014
Media: White soft pastel, charcoal and white ink on A4 size black paper.

[pgc hunter]

Absolutely fantastic sketch, you are a master. A true work of art.

[Jen]

:eyepop: wow Alex your a freak lol that's awsome it looks like a photo :thumbsup: :thumbsup: I love it :)

[mak15]

Unbelievable Alex. I was viewing Eta Carina only last night and your 'sketch/artwork' is sooo similar.
Fantastic
Stew

[mental4astro]

Thank you Stew, Jen and Sab.

This last weekend saw IISAC '14 happen. I arrived late on the Friday, and when I finally settled at the camp it was dark and I just didn't feel like setting up a big scope. The sky was clear, the full brilliance of the Milky Way was arcing overhead, so it was a great chance for some wide field sketching with my little 4" achro.

Omega Centauri and Surrounds

My favourite eyepiece for this little scope is my 30mm 82deg Explore Scientific bruiser. As this scope and EP combination gives me a massive 5deg TFOV, I'm always thinking "hmmm, I wonder how much of that patch I can see...". "That patch" this time was Omega Centauri and Centaurus A. Cripes! I could actually get BOTH in the one field of view!!!

Greed took hold and I wanted to sketch that entire FOV. Exhaustion from the long drive to camp took hold and I could only manage the area around Omega Centauri. But I am still so pleased with the 'cropped' sketch. Omega is seen resolved into a little ball of thousands tiny, tiny pin-point diamonds. Surrounding Omega is the mottle background of the Milky Way, and a lovely large darker patch to the left of the cluster, and another dark but smaller patch to its upper right. This big picture scene is totally missed when we magnify Omega. Blooming brilliant patch of sky, :)

This sketch represents approx. 4deg TFOV.

Object: Omega Centauri and surrounds
Scope: 4" f/5 achromatic refractor
Gear: 30mm 82deg Explore Scientific, 17X
Location: Lostock, NSW, Oz.
Date: 25th April, 2014
Duration: approx. 2hrs

Jewel Box and the Coal Sack

A little rest and back to it. Some time ago I had made a mental note of a potential sketching target as being the area around the lovely cluster The Jewel Box in the Southern Cross. The great thing about the same scope and EP combination is the TFOV encompasses the Jewel Box, Mimosa or Beta Cruxius, and the eastern edge of the dark nebula The Coal Sack, all set off against the mottled background Milky Way. Gorgeous stuff! :)

The Coal Sack is also surprisingly detailed. Streamers of darker lines, patches of brighter, and ghostly arcs. These details made for a great challenge as they are, well, black... Another fainter open cluster can also be seen just to the upper right of the Jewel Box. The Southern Cross contains dozens of open clusters within its boarders.

This sketch is very close to showing the full 5deg True Field of View I had.

Object: Jewel Box and the Coal Sack.
Scope: 4" f/5 achromatic refractor
Gear: 30mm 82deg Explore Scientific, 17X, 5deg TFOV.
Location: Lostock, NSW, Oz
Date: 25th April, 2014
Duration: approx. 2hrs