Dancing in the Virgo Supercluster

NGC 5566/5569/5560
Galaxies
Virgo
14/05/10
Ilford NSW Australia
56cm f5.0 dobsonian telescope
Field: 17′
Magnification: 354x
Sky quality meter reading: 21:38

Black Canford paper
White pen
White pencil
White pastel chalk
Fine tip paint brush

From the Realm Of The Nebulae comes this interesting trio of relatively bright galaxies.

From the top of the sketch we have NGC 5569 followed by NGC 5566 (Arp 286) and at the bottom is
NGC 5560.

Deep images show that these galaxies are interacting, with the dominant member being NGC 5566.

One of the best images of this little combination featured on APOD recently http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100813.html
and shows them in all their glory.

Though I would have to say that sketching materials are a lot less expensive than fitting oneself of with CCD gear.

Scott Mellish

5 thoughts on “Dancing in the Virgo Supercluster”

  1. Very delicate touch you have there, mate. You are very fortunate to have the skies you have at Illford.

    I’m slowly making my way through the big Gallery of ASOD, and your work is a particular highlight. Hey, I recognise most of the objects you lay down on paper, :)!!

    IIS member?

    Cheers,

    Alex.

  2. Wow, a TRULY accurate view of how galaxies appear in the eyepiece. The artist (Scott) is a master at presentation.
    Most of the time I’m disappointed in how things are drawn. I would like to hear a little more how the artist made the edges of the objects appear so realistic.
    Stunning job. Kudos!

  3. Don

    Thanks for your comments.

    There is not really much to it.
    The secret is in the pastel chalk, the brand is “Rembrandt” and it is made in Holland.
    I rub a bit on my wooden sketch pad holder while up at the eyepiece and use a fine tip paint brush or blending stump and smooth it out and build it up pending on how bright or large the galaxy is.
    Then I use a large soft art brush and just give it a rub over to smooth it out more.
    The trick is to get the brightness right because I use a matt spray protectant that softens it even further.

    I do not do much when I scan it in Paint Shop Pro other than jpeg artifact removal/salt and pepper filter/ texture preserving smooth and then that’s it.

    So what you see is what you get.

    I never really displayed my works much except in local Astronomical circles until I found ASOD, which is a really pleasant site with artists displaying their works from all over the world.

    Scott

  4. Scott,

    This is your usual extraordinary group galaxy sketch.
    I think these galaxy sketches are as Don says very true to the eyepiece view.

    Frank 🙂

  5. Incredible touch, Scott. So soft and ‘hazy’, I almost feel like I need to use averted vision to see these galaxies.

    Alex.

Leave a Reply