The Crab

Messier 1
Messier 1

Name: M1 “The Crab”

Type: Supernova remnant, diffuse nebula

Location: Gardner, CO; 37º50’N 105º11’W

Date: September 7, 2013 0300 MDT

Media: Conté crayon, pencil and ink on black Canson paper

Equipment: 18” Newtonian Reflector on a Dobsonian mount

Observer: Knuklhead Astronomer

Orion Nebula from the Black Forest

Messier 42 and 43
Messier 42 and 43

Hello,

This is my sketch of the orion nebula, drawn on September, 5th 2013, 4:30h at Kaltenbronn Hohloh, black forest, germany, at 998m with my 18″ Dobson Telescope at 135x using an UHC filter.
Height: 18 degrees over Horizon

Drawn with pencil on white paper, scanned, inverted, and processed to remove “dust-stars” from scanning, darkened, and used the smudge tool to recreate the filaments in the nebula.

Kind regards,

Arndt Schädler

The Trifid Nebula

Messier 20
Messier 20

Object: 20 Trifid Nebula
Location: Mt. Nerone
Date 3rd Aug 2013
Pencil on white paper

This nebula is quite low at my latitude and thus is always submerged in the light pollution halo from cities in the south. This makes it a quite difficult object without a nebula filter. I have obtained the best results with an UHC-S filter. I also tried with an OIII filters which gives outstanding constrast on Lagoon Nebula, which is just nearby, but it is not the best for the trifid.

Regards, Immagine in linea 1

Aldo

Messier 20 and 21

Messier 20 and 21
Messier 20 and 21

Did some observing and sketching in the Sagitarius region on 8/24/2013. Very “crowded” area of the sky … so much to see and sketch. What caught my eye was the view of M20/M21, both easily visible in the FOV of my rich field scope. Hope I did it justice.

Mike

M20/M21 Nebula/Open Cluster
8/24/2013
Warren County NJ
Orion Astroview 100 Refractor
Sketched on a laptop computer

Splendor of the Eagle

Messier 16
Messier 16

Here’s my impression of M16, a large star-forming nebula with inside of it a brilliant cluster of newborn stars in the constellation of Serpens. It was made on the 10th of August at my little observatory in Carù, Italy. Equipment used was my 18″ f/4,45 homemade Dob with 40mm Siebert VP Echelon binoviewer, a couple of Explore Scientific 24mm 82° eyepieces and a Baader OIII filter. Conditions were rather good and I could even make out the main “pillar of creation” as a small dark lane in the nebula’s centre. I captured the image with an ordinary pencil on white paper and afterwards elaborated it on the pc, trying to make the final result as realistic as possible. I sincerely hope you like it!

The Eastern Veil

Eastern Veil (NGC6922-6955 / IC1340)
Eastern Veil (NGC6922-6955 / IC1340)

Hello!

I’d like to submit my latest sketch for the ASOD. The Object is the Eastern Veil (NGC6922-6955 / IC1340) which I’ve observed with my 18″ f/4,45 homemade Dob. It was done at my observatory in Carù di Villa Minozzo, a small village in the Emilian Apennines of northern Italy on the evening of the 5th of July. Originally I used pencil on white paper and then elaborated it extensively on the pc to make it look as realistically as possible.

Have you ever had one of these drawings you’ve always wanted to make but never got round to it? Well, this one used to be mine. Perhaps I was afraid of the many subtleties, the complexity and the enormous amount of time involved (mostly because having to re-acclimatise my eyes to the dark after every pencil stroke). This nebula is so spectacular with the 2″ binoviewers and a couple of 82° eyepieces. It just didn’t fit in the FOV though and unfortunately I had to find a balance between the “snake’s teeth” (IC1340) and the bright NGC6992 area. It also took me quite some time indeed, but in the end I’m really pleased with the result. I hope you are too.

Kind regards,

Peter

Alnitak Nebula Complex

B33 - Horsehead Nebula
NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula), IC 434, B33 (Horsehead Nebula), IC 435, NGC 2023

Hi,

In attachment you can find sketch of nebulas complex in Orion around
Alnitak – NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula), IC434 and B33 (Horsehead Nebula),
IC435, NGC 2023

Short description:

Object Name NGC 2024 (Flame Nebula), IC434 and B33
(Horsehead Nebula), IC435, NGC 2023
Object Type emission nebulas and dark nebula (Barnard 33)
Location Budy Dłutowskie – small village in central Poland
Date 04.03.2013
Media graphite pencil, white paper, color invert
Telescope Columbus 320UL (320/1384 Newtonian) +
Orion Q70 26mm + TS H-Beta 2”’
Seeing 2/5 (good)
Transparency 2/5 (good)
NELM 5,5 mag

I’ve heard that is possible to observe B33 under medium sky
condtitions (5-6mag) using 12” or bigger scope and H-Beta filter and
I’ve wondered is it true… In 2012 I bought 2” TS B-Beta filter and
after some months of really bad weather in Poland I tried it three
days ago.

When you looking thru the eyepiece you can see Alnitak and misty
shadow of flame nebula. All views using H-beta filter are really dark
so you need few minutes for eye adaptation and you need also to cut
off from all external light sources (using some towel on head or
something like that 🙂 ).
After this adaptation really faint fog of IC434 will appear and in the
middle you can observe small black roundy shaped place in this nebula
– this is the shape of B33.
You won’t observe horsehead shape in 12-16” telescope probably even
in extremely good sky conditions. To see horeheadshape you need 18”
or bigger scope and H-Beta filter.

But its worth to try to observe it. It’s a challenge which can give
you knowledge how you can “detect” and observe really faint objects.

Clear Sky
Łukasz

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