M74
Galaxy
Location: Cherry Springs State Park (Dark Sky Park), Pennsylvania
Date of observation: December 29, 2010
A digital drawing (pressure- and tilt-sensitive pen tablet, simulated pencil, blender, airbrush, filtering). Derived from the original sketch in ball-pen. North up, West right.
Conditions: culmination and past culmination from latitude 40 North, 700m/2200ft above sea level, clear, fairly transparent, -10C/15F.
Notes: At 75x in a 16-inch/40-cm, M74’s halo shows strong but inconstant hints of structure. Increasing the power to 225x brings out the star which is the closest to the nucleus in the drawing. After this, the two brightest parts of the spiral arms become noticeable, as well as the stronger (NNW) part of the inner halo. Once these have been seen, backing off to 150x completes the spiral arms to the extent depicted in the drawing. The drawing is close to the actual final view at 150x, but this view developed in the above manner over the course of the evening. Comparison with photographs casts some doubt on the reality of how the northern parts of the arms run in my view, but then what is reality.
Great sketch, man. Nothing is better than a good 16″.
Ivan
That is an interesting way of presenting a deep sky object.
Looks good.
Scott.
Ivan
Nice digital sketch. I’ve always enjoyed my trips to
Cherry Springs when I lived on Long Island,
great place to observe from.