29th January. A lovely few hours on the moon and a start on a new year’s resolution.

[ShrewView]

As there haven’t been too many clear nights lately, when I saw the cloudless sky yesterday I decided to get a scope out and spend some time observing. With the moon near full it seemed the obvious target. I also wanted to make a start on some sketching which I’d promised myself I would try again this year. I’m glad I did, conditions were great, there was no wind, no dew and the seeing was really good and I was amazed how steady the image was as I upped the magnification to around 300x in the end.

I settled into a camping chair for comfort and slowly moved up and down the terminator enjoying the wealth of detail. From the ragged shadows cast by the walls of Pythagorus and Carpenter and then down towards a feature which I think would be Briggs, the rim of which seemed to float miles above the lunar surface with its base still in shadow.

The area I settled on to sketch was around Aristarchus, Herodotus and Vallis Shroteri. If I’m honest that’s mainly because that area seemed a little less overwhelming to try and draw. I’d forgotten how relaxing the whole thing was, and I think it’s true you do really see that little bit more if you sketch, as every time I returned to the eyepiece another smaller crater or subtle feature would appear, like the craterlet Herodotus N which is only a couple of miles across.

I spent around 45 minutes sketching and around an hour and half just enjoying the views. 

The end result wasn't up to much but I really enjoyed my time and if I keep at it who knows I might just overcome my lack of artistic talent.

Dan

[johnfosteruk]

Great report, I love to sketch too, they're not up to much but they're my records and that's all that counts.

The Aristarchus region is full of lovely features, worthy target.

[F15Rules]

23 hours ago, ShrewView said:

As there haven’t been too many clear nights lately, when I saw the cloudless sky yesterday I decided to get a scope out and spend some time observing. With the moon near full it seemed the obvious target. I also wanted to make a start on some sketching which I’d promised myself I would try again this year. I’m glad I did, conditions were great, there was no wind, no dew and the seeing was really good and I was amazed how steady the image was as I upped the magnification to around 300x in the end.

I settled into a camping chair for comfort and slowly moved up and down the terminator enjoying the wealth of detail. From the ragged shadows cast by the walls of Pythagorus and Carpenter and then down towards a feature which I think would be Briggs, the rim of which seemed to float miles above the lunar surface with its base still in shadow.

The area I settled on to sketch was around Aristarchus, Herodotus and Vallis Shroteri. If I’m honest that’s mainly because that area seemed a little less overwhelming to try and draw. I’d forgotten how relaxing the whole thing was, and I think it’s true you do really see that little bit more if you sketch, as every time I returned to the eyepiece another smaller crater or subtle feature would appear, like the craterlet Herodotus N which is only a couple of miles across.

I spent around 45 minutes sketching and around an hour and half just enjoying the views. 

The end result wasn't up to much but I really enjoyed my time and if I keep at it who knows I might just overcome my lack of artistic talent.

Dan

Can we see your sketch here?

I have zero ability in that area but I do love to see others' efforts ☺..

Dave

[Hayduke27]

I can relate.  I'm not much of an artist, but the way that the sketching really makes you pay attention to the details really does bring out more in your observing IMO.

[ShrewView]

20 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Can we see your sketch here?

I have zero ability in that area but I do love to see others' efforts ☺..

If you have zero ability I suspect mine lies in the negative region, but here it is.

In my defence I looked to see when I last tried sketching something astronomical, as I'm not a frequent sketcher. It was mars, and it was on October 29th.....1988! 

Anyway I've checked out some of the resources in the sketching area of the forum and hope they'll give me more of a clue.

[F15Rules]

That's a great effort, Dan?.

One day will have a stab myself!

Thanks for sharing☺

Dave

[teoria_del_big_bang]

Nice sketch. I have never been able to draw but am going to give it a go someday. Whether I dare show the results is a different matter. My wife is really good at it so I wish I could get her interested. Maybe when we move to Spain and it's a bit warmer out there she may give it a go.

Anyway  to you with that great effort.

Steve

[Chris]

Nice one dave, I've never tried sketching but do appreciate seeing the results of others 

 

 

[RobertI]

Great sketch, I'd be very pleased with that if it was me. 

[ShrewView]

Cheers all.

It's a change from my usual thing of trying to catch a whole load of objects in an evening and feeling disappointed if I don't get them all. I've also done a fair bit of basic photography through the scope and this really is less stressful than that. You just sit and watch. Lovely.

I'm going to keep including it in more of my sessions, but especially around full moon when other stuff gets harder to see.