Perseid Heading through Andromeda

Perseid - August 13, 2013
Perseid – August 13, 2013

Object Name: Meteor
Object Type: Perseid
Location: Sketched at a dark sky sight in Bristol, UK
Date: 13th August 2013; 00:40am; conditions – very good
Media (graphite pencil sketch and then digitized using graphics tablet and Photoshop)

I usually sketch in some detail (mainly HB and 2B). I then scanned the result into Photoshop and sharpened the sketch.

Observing Details

Had intended to spend an evening under dark skies watching the Perseids. Started out at 11:30pm but after numerous bright meteors over the next hour or so I decided it might be worth trying to accurately sketch one. This meteor came out of Cassiopeia and headed towards Andromeda Galaxy and broke in two as it trailed away. Frustratingly while I was sketching the background stars (and looking down) my pad was illuminated by a flash and on glancing up I realised I had missed a monster heading towards Pegasus – I could see the smoking trail for a good 2 secs. Suffering for my art? Perhaps!!

Hope you enjoy,

Clear Skies

Chris Lee

Well Positioned Saturn

Saturn - April 11, 2013
Saturn – April 11, 2013

Saturn
Apparent Magnitude: 0.2
Az./Alt: 180°/81°

Itajobi, Brazil
S21°19′ / W49°03′
April 11th, 2013
04h30 (U.T.)

180mm dobsonian reflecting telescope f6 dob mounted (ATM Sebastião Santiago Filho)
Antares 10mm Super Plossl eyepiece
Orion Single Polarizing Filter
GSO 2.5x Three-Element Barlow Lens
Magnification: 270 x

Seeing: Antoniadi II (good, 2/5)
NELM: 4.0

Media: Faber Castell 6B pencil on white paper (BAA form)

Hi, my dear friends. One year later I am back with a Saturn sketch.
I made this sketch in April this year, but only now I found some time to scan and submit it. I hope you astronomers and enthusiasts enjoy.

No clouds, no Moon and no wind. The night would be perfect, wasn’t by the seeing (Ant. 2) and the city lights (NELM 4.0). I decided to observe from my backyard instead of moving all the equipment to the farm.
Despite the limitations, the favorable position of the giant planet revealed several typical features, like Cassini Division, rings’ and globe’s shadows on each other and five of its numerous moons. C-Ring was not visible.
The five visible moons were Japetus, Rhea, Tethys, Dione and Titan.

Clear sky to everyone!

Greetings from Brazil,
Rodrigo P. C.

Saturno e luas 11 abril 13

A Grand Spiral

Messier 31
Messier 31, 32 and 110

M31, spiral galaxy
M32 and M110 dwarf eliptical galaxies

Nicolas ZANNIN

Dobson Orion Optics 300/1200mm
Eyepiece : principally Uwan 28mm, and Nagler 16mm for check some spiral details near the core.

Good summer sky, but not perfect. altitude : 800 m

Forêt de la Joux, near Champagnole, Jura, France, 01/08/2013

Pencils on white paper

Stephan’s Quintet

Stephan's Quintet (NGC7317, NGC7318A, NGC7318B, NGC7319, NGC7320)
Stephan’s Quintet (NGC7317, NGC7318A, NGC7318B, NGC7319, NGC7320)

Object Name: Stephan’s Quintet (NGC7317, NGC7318A, NGC7318B, NGC7319, NGC7320)
Object Type: galaxies in Pegasus
Location: Jodłów – small village in southern Poland (picture made during StarParty Jodłów 2011)
Date: 29.09.2011
Media: graphite pencil, white paper, color invert
Telescope: Columbus 320UL (320/1384 Newtonian) + Meade 5000UWA 8,8mm
Seeing: 2/5 (good)
Transparency: 2/5 (good)
NELM: 6,4 mag

One of the most popular “challenge objects”. If you want to observe this objects, one thing is very necessary – clear dark sky. Why? This objects are vey faint so good contrast between galaxies and sky is the most important thing. After few minutes of eye adaptation you can observe four very faint galaxies on the longest side of triangle of three bright stars (it is quite easy to find because it is near very bright galaxy NGC 7331). Very interesting objects – you must have it on your observation list under really dark sky.

Clear Sky
Łukasz

Jupiter – February 21, 2013

Jupiter - February 21, 2013
Jupiter – February 21, 2013

Hello friends of the dark side,

after only a few good nights since November, I could say that this winter is really terrible for hobby astronomers in Germany. Yesterday it was my sixth night under clear sky. The temperatures and the cold wind do not just stop. The forecast say, that the sky should be covered by the end of next week and so, this Jupiter is probably the last for me in this season.
In a few weeks he is already too low on the horizon. Then Saturn is the object of the night.

I used my 115/805 TMB Apo (No. 83) and enlarged from 130x to 200x. Towards the end I could even observe the gas-giant with the 3.5 mm eyepiece (230x).
The air was very quiet and many fine details were visible. I hope you enjoy the sketch of our biggest neighbour in solar-system.

It was a great feeling, to catch all these particulars.
Best wishes and clear sky

Uwe

Location: near Tauberbischofsheim (Germany) 335m above sea level.
Telescope: TMB 115/805 Apo Refractor
Eyepieces: 3,5mm Nagler, 4mm Williams UWAN, 6mm Baader Genuine Ortho
Air: very quite / best observing conditions
Temperature: – 8°C, strong Wind

Saturn in Good Seeing

Saturn - July 19, 2013
Saturn – July 19, 2013

Hello,

Persistent cloudy, rainy weather here in the Appalachian Mountains has prevented me from seeing most of the best part of this Saturn apparition, but the clouds finally parted briefly earlier this month and allowed this view of the ringed world.

Because Saturn is now well past opposition it is lower in the sky at twilight and well down in altitude after dark, making good seeing imperative for a decent view. I was fortunate this evening because the air was fairly turbulent at sundown when Saturn was still above 30 degrees altitude but got steadier after dark, even though the planet was much lower.

Saturn’s rings are currently tilted at about 17 degrees which gives the observer a good view of the different rings and their features as well as the Cassini Division all the way around.

I got a good look at the North Polar Cap (NPC) but was unable to detect visually the distinct hexagonal shape visible in images.

Four moons were attending Saturn that I could see–Titan, Rhea, Dione, and Tethys. The fifth moon, Enceladus, was there too but hiding in the glare of the rings.

Saturn, among the most beautiful of celestial objects, was a pleasure to observe. There is still time to take in its beauty before the end of this apparition so good luck with the weather where you are!

I made this observational field sketch in my observatory using a template on white copy paper. Pencils used were 2B and HB graphite, charcoal (for the shadows), and a white Derwent Graphtint pencil (for the Crepe Ring).

Name: Saturn
Type: Planet
Location: Twin Sugars Observatory Friars Hill, WV USA
Date: July 19th, 2013

Clear skies,

Michael Rosolina

Omega Centauri

Omega Centauri
Omega Centauri

Hi,

the sketch of omega centauri is being attached here.

the details are,

Omega Centuari – The brightest Cluster visible from our Earth
Name: Adarsh A.

Object: Omega centauri
Type: Globular Cluster
Constellation: Centaurus
Location: Coorg, India
Date: 20-02-2013
Media: White paper, Graphite pencils. Inverted image.

Equipment: Celestron 130EQNewt. Reflcr.
Eyepiece: 40mm
FOV: 5.8 degrees
Sky conditions: bit hazy

Regards,
Adarsh A.
Bangalore