Category: Nebulae

HR 7169-70 and a Nebula Trio

Double Star HR 7169 & 7170 in Corona Australis with NGC 6726, 6727 & 6729
Double Star HR 7169 & 7170 in Corona Australis with NGC 6726, 6727 & 6729

Object Name: Double Star HR 7169 & 7170 in Corona Australis with NGC 6726, 6727 & 6729.
Object Type: Double Star with three Bright Nebulae
Location: The Summit of Haleakala on Maui at 10,000 ft. elevation
Date: July 24, 2012
Media: Light pencil on white paper, scanned to GIMP, and color inverted, Labelled in Mac Preview.
Notes: This sketch was executed with a Celestron C925 on a CGEM with a Swan 40mm EP and a Williams Optics 45º erecting prism diagonal at 58X. The wind was 10mph, Temp: 47ºF, Humidity 24% under a first quarter moon at 2130. The Lit. Rho is 12.8″, Theta is 280º. I measured the pair with a Meade 12mm Astrometric EP and obtained an average Rho of 14.8″, and average Theta of 218º.
I am interested in the nebulosity of the three NGC objects that are included in the field of view. I plotted 25 field stars including one outside the F.O.V. to the west and two outside the F.O.V. to the WSW.

Steve McGaughey
Haleakala Amateur Astronomers

A Bird in Flight

Messier 42
Messier 42

Hi,

I send my sketch of M42. This well-known nebula. In particular, beautifully presented in a dark country sky. Friends who looked at this property by my telescope will not forget this view, the dark sky in the eyepiece and on the background of glowing mist that looks like a bird in flight is a sensation that can not be forgotten. It is a pity that the sky is still cloudy for a long time. I hope that in March the weather will be better 🙂 Thank you and best regards,

Object name: M42 ”
Object type: Nebula
Location: Psary in Poland
Date: 6th February 2013
Power 56x
Telescope: Newton 8 “dobson.

Thor’s Helmet

NGC 2359
NGC 2359

Object Name NGC 2359
Object Type emission nebula around Wolf Rayet star
Location Budy Dłutowskie – small village in central Poland
Date 05.03.2013
Media graphite pencil, white paper, color invert
Telescope Columbus 320UL (320/1384 Newtonian) +
Nagler 22mm + Baader OIII 2”
Seeing 2/5 (good)
Transparency 2/5 (good)
NELM 5,7 mag

In my opinin this object is very underestimated. Usually
astrophotographers choose it as their targets but viusual observers
don’t look at this nebula very often. And this is very bad…. because
object is really impressive. In 10-12” telescopes (or greater of
course) you can see main central helmet shaped part of nebula and
after 2-3 minutes of adaptation you can observe beautiful wings which
grows from central part. Inside helmet, around central W-R star you
can see delicate linear structures created by nebula gas.

OIII filter is necessary and it is greatly improve contrast and shows
many details of this very beutiful object.

If have an occasion try to see it. You won’t be dissapointed 🙂

Clear Sky
Łukasz

M42 Trapezium

M42 Trapezium
M42 Trapezium

Object Name: M42- Trapezium
Object Type: Nebula
Constellation: Orion
Location: Fredericksburg, Texas
Date: 02/07/13
Time: 21:20 CST
Conditions: Clear; Breezy
Seeing: 3/5; Transparency: 4/5
Equipment: 280mm SCT, 12.5mm EP
Power: 224x
FOV: 12′
Medium: Graphite pencil and Blending Stump on white paper. Photographed and color inverted.

I know this is a popular object. It’s beautiful in just about any telescope even from a light polluted area. But from a dark sky site (near 7 mag) like the one I was at it is unbelievable. So rich in nebulosity my sketch barely does it justice. At about 1400 light years and a diameter of some 24 light years this stellar nursery is fascinating! I have read that, besides being one of the closest star forming regions, the brightest stars and the youngest ones may be only 100,000 years old. I never tire of observing the Great Nebula!!!!

John E.

NGC 2022 – Planetary Nebula in Orion

NGC 2022
NGC 2022

NGC2022

Object Type: Planetary Nebula

Location: Barcelona – Spain

Dark skies are necessary, but this planetary nebula in Orion is a great object. Complicated, but grateful.

For more details of my observation you can visit my blog:

http://laorilladelcosmos.blogspot.com.es/2013/02/ngc2022-nebulosa-planetaria-en-orion.html

Date and Time: 2013-01-04, 21h 49m UT

Telescope: SC Celestron 9.25″ (235mm)

Eyepiece: Radian 10mm (235x)

White paper, HB2 graphite pencil, and scanned and inverted with Photoshop

Seeing: 3/5 (5 the best)

Transparency: Clear. Rural Skies.

Location Constellation: Orion

Position: R.A. 05h 42m

Dec. +09° 05′

Thank you and best regards.

Oscar

Messier 43

Messier 43
Messier 43

[An excerpt from Dale Holt’s blog: Chippingdaleobservatory Blog ]
…I pushed onto the great Orion nebula, just intending to take a look but ended up once again trying to be artistic in a rendering of M43 the little brother to the much better known M42, to me this nebula is a ‘morsel’ about to be swallowed by the Angel fish that is M42 the great Orion Nebula. Putting dazzling M42 just out of the field to avoid its distraction one could view this nebula as a standalone and appreciate its form and the intricate darker regions and lanes that bisect it. When I showed my pastel sketch to friend Es Reid the next day, flatteringly he referred to it as like an ‘impressionist’s painting’ that will do for me 🙂

NGC 1980 and Messier 42

NGC 1980 and Messier 42
NGC 1980 and Messier 42

Object Name: NGC 1980
Location: RA: 05h 35m 25.9s, Dec: -05 ° 54 ’35 ”
Magnitude: 2.5
Dimensions: 14′ x 14’
Constellation: Orion
Type: Open Cluster associated with nebulosity.
Observing Location: Bonilla. Cuenca. SPAIN
Date: December 9, 2012.
Time: 23:15 T.U.

Material used: Graphite pencil on white paper. Inverted image and processed with Photoshop.
Celestron Telescope S / C 8″ Mount Cgt-5
Eyepiece: Hyperion Aspheric 31 mm; Magnification: 65x.
Conditions: NEML: 6.13 (Zone 6 Peg.) Temp.: 0.4°C; Humidity 68%.

More information: http://astrodibujo.blogspot.com.es/

NGC 7354 – Planetary Nebula in Cepheus

NGC 7354
NGC 7354 – 225X

2012 08 16, 0400 UT

NGC7354/PK 107+2.1 (4+3b)/H II-705

Planetary nebula in the constellation Cepheus, 22h 40.4m, +61deg17´, 0>20´, m12.9v

Erika Rix – Liberty Hill, Texas

www.pcwobservatory.com
16” Zhumell reflector f/4.5 on a non-tracking Dobsonian mount, Baader Planetarium Hyperion 8-24mm Mark III (75-225x magnification)

82.4°F, 54% H, 9.2 SSE winds, clear, Pickering 6, T 2/6

NGC7354 is a small, slightly faint planetary nebula in Cepheus. Through the telescope, it is located the middle of a star pattern that resembles Sagitta where Delta Sagittae would have been. The star pattern consists of TYC4265-877-1 (m11.7) and USNO J2240137+612011 (m13.2) to the north with TYC4265-347-1 (m10.68) to the south. A strand of three other stars to the west, along with the pattern of stars that resembled Sagitta and NGC7354, resembled the shape of an ear or an ammonite fossil.

75x magnification: Small, soft circular disk, with a hint of slight elongation. O-III adds contrast and there was a hint of brightness in the center of it. A 14.75 magnitude star to the southwest and a 15.3 magnitude star to the southeast of NGC7354 were observed at this magnification just outside of the disk.

225x magnification: A third star with a magnitude of 14.9 was observed just outside of the disk to the west. Using an O-III, the NE and SW edges of the disk were fainter and I could see a brightened edge to the nebula around the rest of the disk with a fainter center. I detected a faint, diffuse haze outside of the brighter borders and there may have been a hint of the central star as it looked slightly grainy in the center of the disk.

Sketches created with AL template, #2 graphite pencil, loaded blending stump with charcoal, super-fine Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen “S”, 0.5mm mechanical pencil.

NGC 7354 - 75X
NGC 7354 – 75X