A Winter Evening Moon
By Frank McCabe
After a very long spell of overcast nights, the clouds parted long enough for a
sketch of the winter crescent moon.
In the afternoon as the moon appeared high on the meridian from behind the clouds;
I put my 107 mm reflector telescope outside to reach temperature equilibrium. As
twilight began I got started. Using a 203 mm diameter protractor template, I drew
a white circle on black paper to represent the lunar disk. I then added a small
amount of Conte’ crayon powder and blended it inside the circle with my fingers
like a mirror maker adding fine grinding abrasive and water to a mirror tool. I
turned on the equatorial platform drive and now I was ready to observe the moon
and sketch.
This sketch is more of an impression of the moon rather than an attempt to achieve
a level of accuracy. The earthshine was nicely visible and since only 20% of the
lunar side facing the earth was illuminated the sketch was 5 times easier to do
than the full moon.
Sketching:
For this sketch I used: black Strathmore 400 Artagain paper, 12”x 12”, white and
black Conte’pastel pencils and a blending stump. Brightness was slightly decreased
after scanning.
Telescope: 4.25 inch f/6 Dobsonian and 24mm eyepiece 27x
Date: 1-12-2008 22:50-23:55 UT
Temperature: 0°C (32°F)
clear, calm
Seeing: Antoniadi III
Co longitude: 328.8°
Lunation: 4.5days
Illumination: 20.4 %
Wonderful! A very nice impression of an “elderly” Moon. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for drawing!
-Andy
Thank you Andy.
Frank
Frank: In my view a good sketch reminds one truly of what one actually sees, as opposed to what a camera might manage with its different optics. This one does a fabulous job of exactly that – it looks like what I see, not what I am used to in a magazine. Many thanks,
Rob
Rob,
Thank you. This was an impulsive sketch for me and I am usually not impulsive. I am glad you liked it.
Frank