'RASC Finest NGCs' sketches

[rory]

Cheers Rory.

That was on Bodmin moor mid Cornwall, my local dark site is good but theres a huge light dome from Plymouth to the east and I wanted to spot some galaxies in Ursa Major hence the drive further west.

well if those sketches are a good representation of  what you saw mike, you must have been chuffed.

the only part I found invisible was that little piece ( pickerings wotsit)    I remember it was the first object that i really found a uhc  an absolute must from where I was observing. 

 thanks for posting those drawings though , such good work.

clear skies.

[Jason71]

I really like these drawings and I wouldn't mind giving it ago my self one day. Do you take a photo of the object and sketch it out in doors or is it all done outside bit by bit as you keep having a look.

Really good mike. Well done.

[Mike73]

Thanks Jason

Its all done at the EP, theres some links at the top of this section with lots of tips and things if you want to give sketching a shot.

[Jason71]

Thanks Jason

Its all done at the EP, theres some links at the top of this section with lots of tips and things if you want to give sketching a shot.

Think I will Mike. And il have a look at the links.

[Mr Flibble]

Nice sketches of the veil :-) I especially like the eastern section which is more wispy but still has plenty of detail. Pretty wide FoV as well, must be that f4.5 Thing is when I see that amount of detail it makes me itch to get out at the eyepiece again at a really dark site and see if I can see as much!

[Mike73]

NGC 6940
Constellation - Vulpecula
Open cluster
Distance - 2500Ly
Mag 6.3

Date 4/12/13
Seeing - Antoniadi III
Transparency 2/5
SQM 21.15 (LM 6.2)

Telescope - 16" f/4.5
EP - 28mm ES x68 TFoV 1˚

Sketch notes
Large, bright and easy to find although it sits amongst thousands of background Milky Way starts.
Poor transparency last night so this was the only object I observed.

[Jason71]

Hi mike. How long does it take you to do a sketch . Had a look at your lunar sketches. They are really good.

[Mike73]

Thanks again Jason

The sketches don't really take that long to do, maybe 20 minutes? I try to make sure that I spend more time observing the object rather than looking at the sketch pad so in total from start to finish they usually take around 45 minutes to an hour for DSO's.

The lunar sketches take longer, probably about 1 1/2 hours but I did those using a 4" frac on a motorised EQ5 which really helped tracking the moon at high power.

[Jason71]

Thanks mike. I think I'm going to give this ago

[Mike73]

Just take your time with it Jason and dont rush, its a great way to improve your observing skills.

[Mike73]

NGC 6520
Open cluster
Constellation - Sagittarius
Distance 6.2Kly
Mag 7.59

Date 28/7/14
Transparency - Good
SQM 21.33

Telescope 16" f/4.5
EP - 17mm Nagler x129

Sketch notes
Fairly small and compact cluster, built up of mainly faint stars around the same magnitude as the background of Milky way stars.

[Mike73]

NGC 6818 - Little Gem nebula
Planetary nebula
Constellation - Sagittarius
Distance 6Kly
Mag 9.39

Date 29/7/14
Transparency - Good
SQM 21.565

Telescope 16" f/4.5
EP - Leica ASPH + Baader VIP

Sketch notes
Very small and bright with brighter 'lobes' to the N and S.

[Mike73]

NGC 6712
Globular cluster
Constellation - Scutum
Distance 23Kly
Mag 8.1

Date 29/7/14
Transparency - Good
SQM 21.61

Telescope 16" f/4.5
EP - Leica ASPH x223

Sketch notes
Resolvable but mainly built up of faint stars.
Not very exciting as far as globs go...

[Mike73]

NGC 6445 - Crescent nebula
Planetary nebula
Constellation - Sagittarius
Distance 6.4 Kly
Mag 10.9

Date 28/7/14
Transparency - Good
SQM 21.45

Telescope 16" f/4.5
EP - Leica ASPH + Baader VIP x296

Sketch notes
Moderate size with lighter areas within to the SW and N.
Few background stars.

[Mike73]

NGC 6369
Planetary nebula
Constellation - Ophiuchus
Distance 4.9Kly
Mag 11.5
 
Date 29/7/14
Transparency - Good
SQM 21.49
 
Telescope 16" f/4.5
EP - Leica ASPH + Baader VIP x371
 
Sketch notes
Small and faint Pn with few background stars.
Using very big magnifications I could see a near perfectly round shape with a trace of a 'shell' from the SE to NW.

[Mike73]

NGC 6633
Constellation - Ophiucus
Open cluster
Distance 1200Ly
Mag 4.59

Date 3/8/14
Transparency -  Very good
SQM 21.33

Telescope - 16" f/4.5
EP - 26mm Nagler x84

Sketch notes
Very large, bright and stretching across nearly all the 1˚ FoV, fairly lose but stands out well against the background stars.

[Mike73]

NGC 6572
Constellation - Ophiuchus
Planetary nebula
Distance 2400ly
Mag 8
 
Date 21/8/14
Transparency - poor
SQM 21.18
 
Telescope - 16" f/4.5
EP - Leica ASPH + Baader VIP barlow x312
Filter - DGM Optics NPB
 
Sketch notes
Small, compact and very bright but showed no detail.
Green colour with or without filter.

[Mike73]

NGC 6781
Constellation - Aquilla
Planetary nebula
Distance 5000ly
Mag 11.6
 
Date 20/8/14
Transparency - average
SQM 21.3
 
Telescope - 16" f/4.5
EP - Leica ASPH + Baader VIP barlow x223
Filter - DGM Optics NPB
 
Sketch notes
Average size but clearly showed a 'shell' across its northern edge.

[Mike73]

NGC 7009 / Saturn Nebula
Constellation - Aquarius
Planetary Nebula
Distance 3300ly
Mag 7.8
 
Date 20/8/14
Transparency - Poor
SQM 21.24
 
Telescope - 16" f/4.5
EP - 12mm Nagler x158
Filter - DGM Optics NPB
 
Sketch notes
Poor transparency made seeing its shape very hard, I've seen it in better conditions in my 12".
I had to use a lot lower magnification to what I would have liked but caught a few glimpses which gave away its shape.

[Mike73]

NGC 7293 / Helix Nebula
Constellation - Aquarius
Planetary nebula
Distance 900ly
Mag 7.6
 
Date 20/8/14
Transparency - average
SQM 21.28
 
Telescope - 16" f/4.5
EP - 17mm Nagler x111
 
Sketch notes
Very large and diffuse in the centre, top and bottom.
The Lumicon OIII really improved the contrast on the PN compared to the smaller ones.
A couple very faint stars inside but transparency made it very tricky seeing them.

[scarp15]

Are you using conte crayon Mike? Nicely captured images and presentation.

[Mike73]

Hi Iain

Yes still using Conte pastels, I just scratch them onto a piece of sandpaper then use brushes for big objects like the Helix nebula.

[rory]

Love the way you get structure in the neblousity mike. Really good stuff.

[szymon]

It's so nice to read through this thread. I wish I had some kind of artistic talent!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[algol]

These are lovely made me pick up my sketch pad again after a while off. Do you use any fixative after completing the sketch? I find mine smudge sometimes.