M82 Galaxy from my 16"

[DarkerSky]

Captured this with my 16" at x228 magnification with neodymium filter on January 15 & 16. TFOV 0.30 degrees. It has perhaps come out a bit brighter than I saw it, but the detail is exactly as I saw it

[Nexus 6]

O that is so good Seb!

I need a 16" dob

[AlexxxAA]

Wow!

Thats amazing!

How does the Neodymium work for you with the galaxies? It doesnt seem to do much for me here. I just noticed that it darkens the background, but at the cost of image brightness as well. So, for example, if in my skies the 8" by itself shows me stars down to only about 12.5mag in star clusters like the Kite cluster, the filter darkens the backgroud nicely, but stars up to about 11.5 or 12 get blocked out as well

I think i tried it on the andromeda galaxy, and it made the galaxy much less noticeable than without the filter

[DarkerSky]

Thanks for the comments

First time I've sketched M82, and loved every minute of it!

Alex, the neodymium filter does darken the background for me to give better contrast. It's not a huge amount, but it is noticeable. It just helps pull out more of the fainter / fuzzier edges than I see without it. I have a slight loss of brightness, but nothing compared to the loss of brightness I get with an OIII sometimes.

[TakMan]

Great result Seb, I don't think I'd have the patience to try and draw something so dim whilst pushing the scope to keep it in the eyepiece!

Especially like your treatment of the dark lanes in the upper right area.

Can I ask what art materials you use please...?

DAmian

[todd8137]

looks great

[WayBig]

Lovely detail in that.....that's a 16 incher going onto my Christmas present list, aperture fever strikes again

[Beulah]

Lovely detail in that.....that's a 16 incher going onto my Christmas present list, aperture fever strikes again

Me too.

[RikM]

Smashing sketch Seb. M82 often seems brighter than M81 to me.

[DarkerSky]

Thanks again for the kind comments all

Damian - I guess my art materials are quite simple really. I just print out my circles on plain white 80gsm copier paper and use a set of graphite pencils 6B to 4H.

I'll often use several different pencils in a sketch and overlay them to get the right sort of consistency to features. Just use my little finger to smudge and soften.

Once done, I scan them into my PC, convert them to negative and make some minor adjustments to contrast / brightness etc so I can replicate as best as I can what I saw in the eyepiece.

[bish]

Really nice sketch.

[Zul]

Nice sketch and nice view from 16 inch