M13 from 5/6/07

[Andrew]

Spent some time sketching M13 last night. Didn’t find it easy! Too many stars to plot positions really accurately. Anyway, thought I’d post it with one of Rog’s photos for comparison (hope you don’t mind me pinching this Rog – I find it interesting to compare star positions etc).

Anyway, for the record this was based on observations with a 12” Newtonian in pretty poor conditions (mag 4.5 sky, slight haze but reasonable seeing).

It’s interesting that when observed visually there are very distinct streamers of unresolved starlight that radiate from the core with a limited number of stars scattered along them giving the cluster a very ragged edge. In photos these streamers are less obvious because the whole cluster typically appears brighter and more circular. There is one streamer in particular that stands out very clearly and extends down to the south of the cluster before bending to the west. It’s also very useful because the darklanes that make up the propeller are tucked in just behind this streamer, separating it from the core.

[geppetto]

Excellent 8)

Fascinating doing a comparison there Andrew with a photo image

Really nicely done mate, thanks for sharing

[anthony]

Lovely job, very interesting.

Tallies well with Rog's image.

[Ant]

Very nice, that must have taken you ages.

And what a great idea, comparing it to an image...

You must have the patience of a saint!

Ant

[moondog]

First class sketch Andrew - good comparison to Rog's image.

Look forward to a few more of your sketches.

8)

MD

[Saso]

Fantastic job. Well done.

Saso

[dazza1639]

Amazing sketch Andrew, you must have a lot of patience.

Darren

[Andrew]

Thanks for the kind words.

The sketch took about 2 hours. There is one significant error in it though - I forgot to check the FOV carefully at the eyepiece, so I had to estimate it afterwards. I suspected 15' was a bit small so I checked this last night. The cluster actually appears to be about 11' across (it's listed size is 17' so there's plenty that can't be seen visually). The FOV should be about 22'.

[zhgutas]

Thats a such wonderful sketch! Very proffesionally done! Very very nice :thumbleft:

[centroid]

That is really excellent Andrew, and the first of its kind that I have seen.

Dave

[maroon bells]

Very nice.

You may be the last of the sketchers, a dying breed now.

[Andrew]

Yes – you don’t see many sketches on the forum, although I think it’s more popular in the US (some good stuff on cloudy nights).

It does mean you can spend a long time looking at one object, which is a bit of the pain in the UK where we have relatively few decent nights a year. However, I find it helps with my visual observing – it’s only by sketching something that I really look hard enough at it to see the detail. It means when I come back to objects I recognise them straight away and can see sometimes quite subtle differences in them due to a change in observing conditions. Of course my wife thinks I’m completely mad (or maybe sad would be more accurate).

[Phil73805]

I did my first sketch recently through binoculars of all things and I'm hooked! I sketched M13 and all the visible stars in the fov. I'd show you all the sketch but I don't have a scanner. It's on my shopping list though.

It's a great way to improve your observing skills whether you have any art ability or not. You'd be amazed how you pick up on details that you'd otherwise miss because you are trying to reproduce what the eye sees.

I am itching to get to a dark site with my Dob and a sketch pad! Of course the weather will have to behave...

Phil

[Andrew]

I haven't tried sketching with binoculars, but I might give it a go. I see you have some 15x70s phil. I use 10x50s, but I wonder if 15x70s would be just right for sketching giving a nice balance between detail and FOV. Do you using a downward looking binocular mount or tipod?

[mpeniak]

Really impressive. You might sketch most popular objects and ask somebody to publish them in some book. When I was starting I was really interested how other planets and galaxies appear through eyepiece. Many people expect to see colours like we see in long exposure pictures and when they first look through scope they are disappointed. Publishing these would show people what to expect through eyepiece.

Just idea...

Martin

[SteelRat]

Another crackin sketch Andrew - nicely done matey 8)

[Phil73805]

I haven't tried sketching with binoculars, but I might give it a go. I see you have some 15x70s phil. I use 10x50s, but I wonder if 15x70s would be just right for sketching giving a nice balance between detail and FOV. Do you using a downward looking binocular mount or tipod?

Hi Andrew, I used a tripod which wasn't tall enough for overhead use so every time I looked down to draw I had to find M13 again, it was a test of patience Detail wise M13 was a fuzzy blob but it was good to sketch the stars in the fov for position and relative magnitude. A useful skill to develop.

Phil

[Caz]

Beautiful sketch Andrew, attention to detail is commendable. Excellent... 8)

Caz

[tom.yates]

Very interesting well done.