acr_astro

Dear all,

today I did a pastel sketch of the full solar disc in H alpha. Haven't done this for quite some time. Our home star is pretty calm today - only a few small prominences and filaments:

Telescope: Lunt LS50THaB600PT
Eyepiece: Celestron X-Cel 10mm
Date & Time: February 28th, 2021 / 1200-1230 CET
Location: home terrace, Dusseldorf region, Germany
Technique: reddish Koh-i-Noor Toison d'Or pastels and pastel pens on ebony-coloured Hahnemühle mould-made pastel paper
Size: 24 x 31 cm

Clear and sunny skies!

Achim

Hi all,

thanks a ton for your great feedback and the wonderful dozen of likes!

Clear skies!

Achim

Hi all,

thanks for your wonderful repies and for all the likes! I really enjoy shaing my lunar sketches here!

Clear skies!

Achim

Hi Jeremy,

thanks for your reply

And thanks to all the others for the likes!

Clear skies!

Achim

Dear all,

tonight I finished the weekend with a tiny sketch of the Eratosthenian-age crater Bullialdus (60km diameter) in the west of Mare Nubium. Apart from Bullialdus you can see Lubiniezky F in the North, Bullialdus A, and B south of the main crater and the tiny Bullialdus E and L in the west of it. Today I once again selected the small size of just 8x12cm for the sketch. Less chalk and less charcoal needed 😉

Telescope: Martini 10" f/5 truss-tube Dobsonian
Eyepiece: Celestron 25mm eyepieces with Baader Maxbright binoviewer
Date & Time: February 21st, 1940/ 2030 CET
Location: home terrace, Dusseldorf region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor charcoal, whitecoal and chalk blocks and pens on black sketching paper
Size: 8x12cm

Clear skies

Achim

Dear all,

at the end of a fruitful astronomy evening yesterday I observed the Hesiodus ray on the floor of crater Hesiodus for the first time 😀

And I made a tiny sketch:

Telescope: Martini 10" f/5 truss-tube Dobsonian
Eyepiece: Explore Scientific 6.7mm/82° 
Date & Time: February 20th/21st, 2021 / 2345-0015 CET
Location: home terrace, Dusseldorf region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor charcoal, whitecoal and chalk blocks and pens on black sketching paper
Size: 8x12cm

Clear skies

Achim

Dear all,

yesterday was an excellent sunny day here and an evening with just some thin clouds. So I went for a lunar sketch - this time Clavius:

Telescope: Martini 10" f/5 truss-tube Dobsonian
Eyepiece: Explore Scientific 6.7mm/82° 
Date & Time: February 20th, 2021 / 2000-2100 CET
Location: home terrace, Dusseldorf region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor charcoal, whitecoal and chalk blocks and pens on black Seawhite of Brighton sketching paper
Size: 20x30cm

Clear skies

Achim

... and many thanks for the feedback and all the likes! It's a pleasure to share my sketches here!

Clear skies

Achim

Hi all,

thanks a lot for the great feedback and all the likes! 

Clear skies

Achim

Dear all,

following the weather forecasts, I got up this morning quite early - even though it's Sunday - to do some lunar sketching at -3°C. I had set up the telescope already yesterday evening so it was perfectly cooled down. The target for this sketch is the strange crater pair Messier and Messier A in Mare Fecunditatis. Messier A is the westerly one with its long rays heading westwards. In contrast to that the ejecta blanket of the oval Messier is spreading more towards north and south. Both Messier and Messier A are Copernican age but most probably do not originate of the same event.

As you know the craters are named after French astronomer Charles Messier, famous for his deep sky object list. I find it quite nice that he had predicted Halley's comet to return, so it's perfect that the rays of Messier A remind me of a comet tail  

Here's the sketch:

Telescope: Martini 10" f/5 truss-tube Dobsonian
Eyepiece: Explore Scientific 6.7mm/82° with and without Explore Scientific 2x focal extender
Date & Time: Jan 31st, 2021 / 0600-0645 CET
Location: home terrace, Dusseldorf region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor chalk, extra charcoal and whitecoal pens and pieces on Seawhite of Brighton black sketching paper
Size: appr. 20x30cm

Clear skies!

Achim

Hi,

when sketching the moon, I don't need complete darkness. So usually I just leave the lights on the terrace on.

If observing and sketching from somewhere else. I use a light for music stands. Like this one:

Clear skies!

Achim

Dear all,

today between sunset and appearing clouds, I enjoyed half an hour of lunar sketching. This time I decided to have a look at the "Marius hills", the lunar dome area west of crater Marius. I would have appreciated to have a bit more time to add some more details but the clouds came in too fast. Anyway, this is the result:

Telescope: Celestron NexStar 127 SLT
Eyepiece: Explore Scientific 6.7mm/82°
Date & Time: January 25th, 2021 / 1730-1800 CET
Location: backyard, Dusseldorf Region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor chalk, extra charcoal and whitecoal pens and pieces on Seawhite of Brighton black sketching paper
Size: appr. 20x30cm

Clear skies!

Achim

Hi all,

thanks for the great feedback and the likes!

Clear skies and a great Sunday to all of you!

Achim

Dear all,

yesterday afternoon, the forecasts for the evening were good so I set up the 10" truss-tube Dobsonian on the terrace for cooling down. Actually in the evening the sky wasn't as clear as expected but the cirrostratus luckily did not harm too much. It could have been brighter but anyway ...
So I tried my new 2x focal extender with the 10 inch scope for the first time and magnified up to 370x. Seeing was okay and I really enjoyed travelling along the terminator from Plato via Copernicus down to Clavius. For the 10"er the focal extender is really an enhancement when viewing the moon and conditions are okay: I saw much more detail in Clavius as I have ever observed before. 
This would have been a good sketching target but finally I decided to go for a sketch of the magificient Copernicus (named after the famous Polish astronomer by Giovanni Riccioli mid of the 17th century): 
The crater floor was still completely in darkness, one could only see the bright, round rim of this 93km wide crater. The terraced slopes were just partly in the lunar sunrise yet. Obviously the central peaks are as expected lower than the rim - they were still hidden in the darkness. The two craters north of it are Gay-Lussac A and Gay-Lussac on the way to the Montes Carpates with their eastern parts already visible.
Here's the sketch:

Telescope: Martini 10" f/5 truss-tube Dobsonian
Eyepiece: Explore Scientific 6.7mm/82° with Explore Scientific 2x focal extender
Date & Time: Jan 22nd, 2021 / 1900-2000 CET
Location: home terrace, Dusseldorf region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor charcoal, whitecoal and chalk blocks and pens on black sketching paper
Size: 11"x11"

Clear skies!

Achim

Dear all,

tonight, the moon rose nicely and bright above the neighbour house. I just observed it from behind the window at convenient 21°C - much better than the 0°C outside. I went for a full disc sketch:
 

Telescope: TS ED 70/420
Eyepiece: ExploreScientific 6.7mm/82°
Date & Time: November 29rd, 2020 / 1730-1830 CET
Location: home, Dusseldorf region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor chalk, extra charcoal and whitecoal pens and pieces on black Hahnemühle Ingres mould-made pastel paper
Size: 24x31cm

Clear skies!

Achim

Dear all,

today I had a look to the H alpha sun during my lunch break. There are the nice active regions 2783, 12785 and 12786 and some filaments on the disc, accompanied by some prominences on the limb. Here we go:

Telescope: Lunt LS50THaB600PT
Eyepiece: Celestron X-Cel 10mm
Date & Time: November 25th, 2020 / 1245-1315 CET
Location: home garden, Dusseldorf region, Germany
Technique: reddish Koh-i-Noor Toison d'Or pastels and pastel pens on Hahnemühle mould-made pastel paper
Size: 24 x 31 cm

Clear skies!

Achim

Dear all,

thanks a lot for the wonderful feedback and all the likes!

Clear skies!

Achim

Dear all,

today we had a wonderful sunny autumn day here in Western Germany with a cloudless sky tonight. So I set up the 10" truss tube Dobsonian on the terrace and enjoyed sketching Rupes Recta - the straight wall.

Telescope: Martini 10" f/5 truss-tube Dobsonian
Eyepiece: ExploreScientific 6.7mm/82°
Date & Time: November 23rd, 2020 / 1800-1900 CET
Location: home terrace, Dusseldorf region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor chalk, extra charcoal and whitecoal pens and pieces on black Hahnemühle Ingres mould-made pastel paper
Size: 24x31cm

Rupes Recta separates the Erathosthenian floor of Mare Nubium westwards from more rocky Imbrian surfaces east of it. The small crater directly west of it is the copernican crater Birt. The tiny one in its south east is the 4 mile craterlet Birt A. The larger one a bit more east of the "wall" is the Imbrian crather Thebit with a smaller copernican crater Thebit A on its rim.
Some words for the paper I have used: Normally I use this for pastel sketches. My pastels are a bit softer than chalk and charcoal and cover the paper a bit better. The chalk and charcoal require a bit more pressure to get it on the paper but when wiping it with my finger, the surface gets pretty smooth. Compared with my other black sketching paper, the texture of the mould-made paper is more prominent.

I need to get a bit more used to it...

Clear skies!

Achim

Dear all,

thanks a lot for the great feedback and all the likes!

Clear skies!

Achim

Dear all,

during a relaxing walk in the late afternoon I noticed the waxing crescent moon in a clear sky and decided to setup the telescope for a sketch. I selected Lacus Mortis which displayed a great shadow - I guess this was the shadow of crater Bürg combined with the lower western area of Lacus Mortis. Have a look:

Telescope: Celestron NexStar 127 SLT
Eyepiece: Explore Scientific 6.7mm/82°
Date & Time: November 20th, 2020 / 1745-1830 CET
Location: Home terrace, Dusseldorf Region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor chalk, extra charcoal and whitecoal pens and pieces on Seawhite of Brighton black sketching paper
Size: appr. 21x28cm

Unfortunately the inner part of Bürg was still in shadow - same as Rimae Bürg west of it which was still hidden in the large shadow. But for waiting longer, the moon was too low and vanished behind the houses in the neighbourhood. At the southern edge of Lacus Mortis the crater pair Plana and Mason are right between Lacus Mortis and the Lacus Somniorum south of them.

Clear skies!

Achim

Hi all,

thanks for the great feedback!

@Mark: It took me from 6 to 7 at the eyepiece. Completely done in that time.

Clear skies!

Achim

Dear all,

this morning I have been on my terrace to take advantage of the favourite libration towards for the western limb. It was the first time, I managed to observe the Lower Imbrian age Orientale basin - and even do a sketch of it:

Telescope: Martini 10" f/5 truss-tube Dobsonian
Eyepiece: Explore Scientific 6.7mm/82°
Date & Time: November 7th, 2020 / 0600-0700 CET
Location: Home terrace, Dusseldorf Region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor chalk, extra charcoal and whitecoal pens and pieces on Seawhite of Brighton black sketching paper
Size: appr. 21x28cm

I don't know how a basin on the western limb got the name 'orientale' = eastern, but anyway  The sketch shows Grimaldi and Riccioli in its northwest in the upper area. When going from there towards southwest to the limb, you'd cross the Montes Cordillera and Lacus Autumni at their western rim. Further towards the center of Orientale basin, Montes Rook and Lacus Veris at their inner border would be the next features you'd visit. And then in the center there's the lava area of Mare Orientale (about 300km diameter) which has been created in Upper Imbrian age.

The dark lines in the sketch are the western slopes of the Cordillera mountains and Rook mountains. The eastern part of Mare Orientale I could identify. This is the dark area directly at the limb. And on the limb, I was astonished to see the Rook mountains and the Cordillela mountains from the side 

In the southeastern part of my sketch, we can see the rays of the 84km crater Byrgius.

Oh, the ring structure of the basin would have been a wonderful view if seen from above - but we will never see that from here. Nevertheless it was a joy to observe it from the side!

Clear skies!

Achim

Hello Mike,

that's a great sketch! It appears so close!

Clear skies

Achim

Hi,

great sketch of the lunar polar area!

Clear  skies!

Achim

Dear all,

thanks a lot for the great feedback!

5 hours ago, Merlin66 said:

Flares like this only survive a few hours.

I'm just coming in from my terrace: Indeed the large prom is gone.  So I'm even happier that I caught it yesterday.

Clear and sunny skies!

Achim