Category: Supernova Remnant

Frozen Crab with T600

M1

M1, The Crab Nebula in Taurus
Sketch and Details by Bernard Augier

Messier1

The Crab Nebula

Dobson T600

I was surprised not to found many drawing of the famous Crab Nebula,
espacially with large apperture scope (over 11″).

So I decided to draw my own with a 24″ Dobson F/D 3,3 on equatorial
platform. I’m living in French Alps, in a little village.called Saint
Etienne-de-Tinée.

In fact it takes me two nights on 28 and 29 december 2008. Temperature of –
11°C, Lightly windy, SQM at 21.20 not so good.

It is very usefull to use plenty of various magnification from 100 to 800
and observe without and with OIII filter.

It results (in) plenty of different perceptions and the sketch is really a
combination of all of them.

Without filter the shape of the nebula is smooth and familiar with “gulf” on
the two sides, and a sort of mushroom on the top. With filter, the
perception is surprising with a very “fat” shape on whch you can see the
famous filaments, and the border is ruffled and tormented.

The best wiew was at x200 with OIII.

Bernard Augier

Messier’s Candle Flame

M1

M1 (NGC 1952), the Crab Nebula
Sketch by Janis Romer and text by Frank McCabe

Crab Nebula

The excellent sketch above was made by Janis Romer with her Criterion 8″ f/8 Netownian telescope and is the Crab Nebula, M-1 or NGC 1952. This nebula is a supernova remnant with a rapidly rotating central pulsar that can be seen telescopically in the constellation of Taurus near the tip of the southern most horn (Zeta Tauri). The visual magnitude is about 8.5 and the diameter is 11 light years at a distance of 6,500 l.y. The stellar supernova explosion that became the nebula was first seen in the summer of 1054 AD as a daytime guest star. Twenty seven years after John Bevis discovered the nebula in 1731, Charles Messier cataloged it in September of 1758. Charles Messier saw it as an elongated glow in the shape of a candle flame.

Space Ghost

Crab Nebula

M1(NGC 1952), the Supernova Remnant in Taurus
Sketch and Details by Przemyslaw Horoszkiewicz, text by Rich Handy

The ghostly apparition of a stellar explosion that appeared in 1054, M1 or NGC 1952, is beautifully portrayed by Polish amateur astronomer Przemyslaw Horoszkiewicz. M1 is 6,500 light years distant and is approximately 10 light years in diameter.

Sketch information:
Obiect name: Messier 1 (NGC 1952)
Scope: Sky-Watcher 254/1200
Eyepieces: Super Plossl 25mm
Place: Poland, Zielona Góra (A few kilometers for city)
Seeing: 7/10
Date: 29.11.2008 r
Technique:Pencil,graphics GIMP2
Amateur astronomer: Przemysław Horoszkiewicz (Poland)

The Finger of God

The Finger of God

“The Finger of God”, western Veil complex
Sketch and Details by Robert Twarogal (Ignisdei)

Now I want to present a sketch, that was never publicated in internet. A western part of the Veil Complex, known as he Witch’s Broom Nebula, but I rather prefer other, rare used name, ( less formally ) of this extremely beautiful object: The Finger of God.
A veil nebula especially western part of it, is a marvellous conglomerate of fibres frayed matter.
This complex is a large object, so I usually use my lowest-power eyepiece : Swan 40mm witch nebular filter UB in Newton 305mm
I could spend hours in watching this unusual, extraordinary spectacle, which make me out of touch with reality.

Object Name : The Finger of God, NGC 6960 – Western part of Veil Nebula (Ignisdei)
Object Type: Nebulae/emission/reflection
Location: Poland/ Oborniki/suburbia
Date: 29.09.2008 y,
Equipment: Synta 305/1500, UB”, SWAN 2″ 40mm

The Veil Revealed

The Veil Nebula

The Veil Nebula, NGC 6995
Sketch and Sketch Details by Robert Twarogal (Ignisdei)

This extraordinarily beautiful sketch of NGC 6995, the Veil nebula, was one of several submitted by Polish amateur astronomer Robert Twarogal (Ignisdei). His detailed yet delicate treatment of this classic emission/reflection nebula is a tribute to his strong observational and artistic talents. We look forward to sharing with you, future postings of Robert’s exceptional entries.

Sketch details:
Object Name : NGC 6995 – Veil Nebula (Ignisdei)
Object Type: Nebulae/emission/reflection
Location: Poland/ Oborniki/suburbia
Date: 31.06.2008 y,
Equipment: Synta 305/1500

Bones of the Veil

NGC 6995

NGC 6995
Sketch by Serge Vieillard

Serge Vieillard used a 60 cm telescope to observe the Veil Nebula on September 2 from Restefond. He notes that his drawing is really a pale reflection the extraordinary sight through the telescope, where the nebula was large, obvious and extremely detailed. Every detail was complex in structure, and evoked the sense of bones in three-dimensional relief. So that he could focus on observing and drawing the nebula, Serge used an astrophoto to generate the star field.

Gossamer Stellar Ghost

The Veil Nebula

The Veil Nebula, NGC 6992
Sketch and Details by Rony De Laet

The Veil Nebula

The Veil Nebula in Cygnus can be a tricky object to observe, especially without an OIII filter. This supernova remnant is a delicate complex of faint light that encompasses a 3° field. Starting point for this observation is Epsilon Cygni. From there, go 3° south to find 52 Cygni. A small pair of binoculars can show both Epsilon and 52 Cygni in the same field of view. Now try to move both stars near the western border of the field in order to see the brightest part of the Veil (NGC 6992-6992) in the middle of the eyepieces. I had to use averted vision and a lot of patience to reveal that part of the nebula. The other section, NGC 6960, behind 52 Cygni was not visible at all. I believe that the bright 52 Cygni outshines the weak glow of that part of the Veil. I did have the impression that Simeis 229 or Pickering’s Triangular Wisp could be noted as a tenuous brightening of the sky. Or is it maybe the combined light of an unresolved group of stars at that spot? Detecting the Veil Complex is an interesting exercise, which I should repeat later on the year under darker skies. I do strongly recommend the use of a mount to go after the Veil Nebula. The steady view will allow your eyes to study the star field in greater detail.

Site : Bütgenbach, Belgium
Date : July 1, 2008
Time : around 23.15 UT
Binoculars : Bresser 8×56
FOV: 5.9°
Filter : none
Mount : Trico Machine Sky Window
Seeing : 3,5/5
Transp. : 4/5
Nelm : around 5.8
Sketch Orientation : N up, W right.
Digital sketch made with Photo Paint, based on a raw pencil sketch.

Two Views of the Spider

NGC 2070 wide field

The Tarantula Nebula, NGC 2070 wide field view
By Eiji Kato

NGC 2070, The Tarantula Nebula 

Eiji Kato has captured these two marvelous views of the NGC 2070, the Tarantula Nebula in the  southern hemispheric constellation of Dorado, the Dolphin fish, Xiphias, or the Swordfish. This immense region contains stars forming in their nascent cacoons of gas and dust. Previous stellar death  is rampant here as well, remnants of their past existence, shells of excited gas, glow amidst strong interstellar winds. Mr Kato’s beautiful sketches show two perspectives, one a wider field view and the other near center. Most of Mr Kato’s exceptional drawings were made using an 18.5″, f/4 reflector. Some later drawings were made with a 18.1″, f/4.5 reflector.

NGC 2070 near center

The Tarantula Nebula, NGC 2070 near center view
By Eiji Kato

Eiji Kato lives in Australia and operates the TwinStar Guesthouse Observatory.
Please make a visit to his gallery of fine drawings.