richardhandy – Page 5 – Astronomy Sketch of the Day

Lovejoy – one year after

The comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) during the month of December 2014

Object Name C/2013 (Lovejoy)
Object Type Comet
Location Lindenau, Bavaria, Germany
Date December 2013
Media black graphite pencil on white paper, digitally inverted using the freeware software GIMP
Usually, weather in December is quite poor – at least in Germany. However, in 2013 we had cloudless skies for more than a week. So, before going to work, I was able to make sketches of the nice comet C/2013 R1 (Lovejoy) using a pair of 16×70 binoculars.
In order to combine all sketches, I used the freeware program Cartes du Ciel to generate the starfield through which the comet wandered.
Since the comet came close to M13, I put the globular in also. The sketch I made of the cluster is some two years old, but I suppose it does not look a lot differently now 🙂
Observing conditions were not particularly good but also not very bad. Faintest star usually ranged from 6m0 to 6m2 except for December 16th and 17th when the moon was still above the horizon, brightening the sky quite badly. Therefore, the comet looked a lot less spectacular.

Best regards,
Christian Weis

Schiller

Hello,

Crater Schiller

Object Type: Moon

Location: Tarragona – Spain

Schiller crater formation is still unknown, but one of the most plausible theory argue that due to an impact of a small asteroid or comet fragmented with a small impact angle.

While I was observing and drawing this beautiful crater, I imagined what it would have been to observe the crash and its immediate aftermath. Actually, the moon never disappoints.

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

http://laorilladelcosmos.blogspot.com.es/2014/12/schiller.html

Date and Time: 2014-08-06, 21h 58m UT

Telescope: SC Celestron 235mm (9.25″); CGEM mount.

Eyepiece: 7.5mm (313x)

White paper, HB2 graphite pencil, and scanned with Photoshop

Seeing: 4/5 (5 the best)

Transparency: Clear. Rural skies.

Thank you and best regards.

Globular Cluster Pair

A comparison between two globular clusters, M15 in Pegasus and M13 in Hercules - September 24, 2014 and September 27, 2014 — A comparison between two globular clusters, M15 in Pegasus and M13 in Hercules – September 24, 2014 and September 27, 2014

Hi,

Please accept my sketches of this beautiful pair of globular clusters, M15 in Pegasus and M13 in Hercules. Both globular clusters are spectacular objects by themselves but I thought it was interesting to pair them side-by-side to compare and contrast. M15 is smaller, has a more densely packed core and a more symmetrical shape M13 is larger, has a more loosely packed core and meandering streams of stars. The sketches were made on the nights of 9/24/2014 and 9/27/2014 respectively from a fellow club member’s observing field near Green Bay, WI using my 10” Discovery Dobsonian telescope at 120x. They were made using white paper with HB and 2B graphite pencils and blending stumps to smooth. Image colors were inverted using Paint.NET. I hope you enjoy it.

Object Name – M15 & M13
Object Type – Globular Cluster
Location – Near Green Bay, WI US
Dates – 9/24/2014 and 9/27/2014
Media – graphite pencil, blending stumps and white paper. Image colors inverted using Paint.net

Taoism on an Anomalous Lunar Phase Night

Lunar mountains as they appear along the limb - December 6, 2014 — Lunar mountains as they appear along the limb – December 6, 2014

Anomalous December 6, 2014 libration illustrated

The night on December 6 , 3;00-4;00 am was great to observe the 15day moon.

After study some pdf Taurus-Littrow Valley ,NASA, in web, l looked through the eyepieces and soon l found the position of the 15day lunar shade terminator was wrong and strangely for, l remember the lunar phases on 15day moon were always [East-West]ward apparent, this time it was anomalously [North-South] ward.

l think it was not because by libration definitely but by some unknown force pushed the moon downward against the flat normal orbital plane of moon-earth system. l was so tired that night that l had only one hour observation not enough time to check how the limb shade was changing even l could’nt sketch reasonably well the old China or Korean Taoism like landscape and this magnificent similarly scenery was stretched along the limb almost 350km long and of course my limitation was only 70km span , yes-, l have also experienced the Grand Canyon like scenery once with the 8′ og in Dec 2013, twice was recently with the 13″ og 1.5months ago. Now is a Taoism scene.

—————-

320mm homemade refractor x420

2014, 12. 6th

Transparecy,seeing together superb ,8/10;.8/10

White paper, graphite pencils, black acrilic

Shot with a Olympus d-camera

K.S.Min S. Korea

Mooncrater – Thebit

The Lunar crater Thebit - November 1, 2014 — The Lunar crater Thebit – November 1, 2014

Hello,

in this night I used my TMB 115/805 to observe the moon.

After half an hour (I have started around 19:00 clock) I decided to hold the crater “Thebit” for my log. Partly it has not occurred to me somehow and I took more than an hour before I could go on for fine work. The proportions did not want to go out of hand and the many subtleties difficult to carry auf’s paper today. Everything was pretty numb, pins “dashed” strange and haze-winding soaked the paper so that it rippled.

All in all I am very happy to have seen it. It was a great Show.

CS Uwe

Date: 01.November 2014
Object: Moon
Object Name: Crater Thebit
Telescope: 115/805 TMB
Eyepiece: 3,5 mm Nagler
Magnification: about 230x
Location: Near Tauberbischofsheim Germany

Surprise Libration

The lunar crater Gauss and environs seen in different librations on January 16, 2014 and December 8, 2014

Last night I made a sketch of Lunar crater Gauss and its surroundings. While archiving the sketch this morning I realised I already sketched this part of the Moon almost a year ago, so I got the idea of a side by side comparison to show the effect of lunation. To my surprise I found out these sketches were made at the exact same lunation: 15.5 days. The difference in lighting therefore had to be caused mainly by the Moon’s libration; the slow wobbling of the Moon in its orbit. A pleasant suprise to find out I sketched this phenomenon totally unintentionally!

Both sketches were made using a 3″ Polarex Unitron refractor at 171x, with a white pastel pencil on black paper. Orientation and size were matched using Photoshop.

Object Name: Gauss
Object Type: Lunar crater, libration
Location: Deventer, The Netherlands
Date: December 8, 2014
Media: white pastel pencil, black paper

Clear skies!
Roel Weijenberg
www.roelblog.nl

Nebulosa de Orión (Orion Nebula)

Messier 42, "The Great Nebula of Orion", a giant stellar nursery in the constellation Orion — Messier 42, “The Great Nebula of Orion”, a giant stellar nursery in the constellation Orion

Object Name: M42.
Object Type: Nebula.
Location: Pergamino, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Date 05/12/2014, 00:15am.
Media: White paper, pencil and photoshop to invert colors and make minor tweaks.
Equipment used for the drawing: Helios 114/900 (reflector).
Ocular: Huygens 25mm.

Craters Billy and Hansteen

Billy, Hansteen and Mons Hansteen labeled

Craters Billy and Hansteen

It has been cold in Chicagoland and although it was sunny most of the day, high cirrus clouds moved in after sunset to block out all stars fainter than 3rd magnitude. Ice crystals at high altitude generated a colorless halo around the Moon. Not the best conditions for sketching but the first chance in 4 weeks for me. My target for this sketch was the pair of craters at the southern edge of Oceanus Procellarum. Crater Billy (46 km.) with its dark smooth lava covered floor and crater Hansteen (45 km.) with its hilly, irregular floor and terraced walls present contrasting looking craters of similar size and age. Between these craters is a large arrowhead shaped volcanic extrusion feature called Mons Hansteen. This object always looks very bright at or near full Moon.

Sketching:

Black Canson paper, white and black Conte’ pastel pencils, white Pearl eraser, blending stumps
Telescope 13.1” f/6 Dobsonian telescope on an equatorial drive platform at 222x with 9mm eyepiece

Date: 12-04-2014, 02:00 – 03:00 UT

 Temperature: -7°C (20° F)  mostly cloudy, calm
 Seeing: Antoniadi IV (poor)
 Colongitude: 54.2 °
 Lunation: 11.4 days
 Illumination: 92.5 %

  Frank McCabe

Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake)

Hey ASOD!

Interesting structures was observed in B2 (Hyakutake) on two nights 24. and 25. March 1996
in high power of the inner coma! My two sketches shows the fragmenting of the nucleus over
2 days. I used my 20.3 cm. SCT. F/ 10 at 166x.
Some days before, on 20. March, the false nucleus was stellar with no structures observed.
On 21. March, I could see a 2 arcmin. very thin spine tailward. Read my info on sketches!
I used colorcrayons on black paper.
Loc.: Trondheim, Norway.

Have a nice X- mas and happy new year with clear skies ! Per-Jonny Bremseth.

Capuanus Crater and Lacus Timoris

Lunar crater Capuanus on the shores of the Lake of Fear - December 1, 2014 — Lunar crater Capuanus on the shores of the Lake of Fear – December 1, 2014

Aloha!

I have been lucky enough to have clear skies the past 3 nights and took advantage of sketching some feature of the Moon every night. On 12/1/14 my eye rested upon the partly eroded walls of Capuanus Crater and the surrounding region north of Palus Epidemiarum. At the time of the observation the 60 km wide crater cast a deep shadow to the west and over a rim of rock placing it partially in shadow. Smaller Elger Crater is visible just to the west of the rim of Capuanus just beyond the shadows. A multitude of smaller more complex appearing craters border the southern edge of Capuanus. The small mare of Lacus Timoris (Lake of Fear) can be seen to the south near the terminator.

Cindy (Thia) Krach

Capuanus Crater 10 day lunation
12/1/14
2130-2245 HST
12.5” Portaball, 6.7mm 227x
Maui, Hawaii
Black Fabriano Paper 6”x 6”
white & black Conte’ Crayons