Couple of DSO sketches.

[darrenbushnalluk]

Finally some good weather for a few hours at least so went out with the 10 inch and Watec 120N+ with a focal reducer so working with a focal ratio of 2.9.

M27 was amazing with the Watec, full of detail, a real pleasure to sketch.

NGC 6894 the Diamond ring nebula was a surprise as it appeared on the monitor, a celestial polo mint! The central star wasn't seen but the 14th magnitude 'diamond' star was.

Cheers

Darren

[Phil4130]

Nice , getting the stars in the right place with the right scale takes a while doesnt it

[darrenbushnalluk]

Nice , getting the stars in the right place with the right scale takes a while doesnt it

It does, the monitor actually showed masses of much fainter stars probably going down to around 17th magnitude but it's just a physical impossibility to put them all in plus my Watec doesnt have a cooling device on it so some of the stars you see on the monitor will be hot pixels and you don't want to draw them in as stars.

[Nexus 6]

They are great Darren, can I ask you what you used to sketch them?

[darrenbushnalluk]

They are great Darren, can I ask you what you used to sketch them?

Hi, I simply use good quality sketching paper bought from an art shop, its quite thick and has a slight grain which is good for showing texture, a soft pencil either 2B or perhaps a 5 or 6B depending what I'm drawing and a broad carbon dry stick which gives the effect of charcoal and I use a paper blending stump usually with the carbon stick. I got mine from WH Smiths, it's their own brand sketch set in a nice tin box and the other thing I use is a fine tipped hard nibbed pen in a 0.1mm size for drawing the stars.

darren

[Nexus 6]

Hi, I simply use good quality sketching paper bought from an art shop, its quite thick and has a slight grain which is good for showing texture, a soft pencil either 2B or perhaps a 5 or 6B depending what I'm drawing and a broad carbon dry stick which gives the effect of charcoal and I use a paper blending stump usually with the carbon stick. I got mine from WH Smiths, it's their own brand sketch set in a nice tin box and the other thing I use is a fine tipped hard nibbed pen in a 0.1mm size for drawing the stars.

darren

Thanks for that Darren, have wanted to give it a go for a while now, I am a visual astronomer and do have some logs from over the past year or so but would like to complement them with something like this.

Will be paying a visit to Smiths at the weekend.

Best Wishes

[celestron8g8]

Very nice Darren ! Long time since i have seen some nice sketches ! Job well done !

[petek314]

I think the sketches are superb. Could you tell me how you convert them to digital media. Do you scan them or photograph them?

[darrenbushnalluk]

I think the sketches are superb. Could you tell me how you convert them to digital media. Do you scan them or photograph them?

I scan them then just a slight levels adjustment in photoshop to get them as close to whats on the paper.

[DarkerSky]

These are fantastic Darren. M27 looks stunning and so full of detail. I've never heard of the diamond ring, so that's a new one on me.

These Watecs seem like just the job. Am I right in thinking you need a tracking set up for the scope to use it?

[todd8137]

nice work love to sketch my self

[darrenbushnalluk]

These are fantastic Darren. M27 looks stunning and so full of detail. I've never heard of the diamond ring, so that's a new one on me.

These Watecs seem like just the job. Am I right in thinking you need a tracking set up for the scope to use it?

You do need tracking but no where near as accurate as imaging.