Chalk/charcoal sketch of lunar crater Tycho

[acr_astro]

Dear all,

after a fast-changing mixture of sun, clouds and showers yesterday, it cleared up during the evening -- as promised in the weather forecast. I had carried my 10" f/5 truss-tube dobsonian telescope to the terrace at 6 p.m. already. So it was perfectly cooled down at 9 p.m. when the clouds had vanished. The air was clear and seeing was good too. Honestly I don't remember such a clear view on the moon for years.

This time I selected the famous crater Tycho - which I have never sketched since starting with lunar sketching six years ago! So this time it was up to Tycho to be finally sketched. Named after the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) who worked on a star catalogue, a model of the solar system (with the earth in the center, the sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn circulating around it - but Mercur and Venus circulating around the sun ) and who discovered a Super Nova in Cassiopeia in 1572. Tycho has been working in his observatory on the small island Ven in the Oresund between Denmark and Sweden. We have visited the island and the museum two years ago during our summer holiday. And last autumn, I brought a commemorative 20 DKK coin from our vacation in Denmark:

But now back to the crater: When looking at the moon with binoculars you see the dominant bright rays from Tycho's impact across the south west of the moon. Tycho has a diameter of 85km and is about 4.8 kilometers deep. I was impressed by the wonderful pair of central peaks. The slopes on the southwestern rim and the structured crater floor where great to observe and sketch as well. I added the smaller craters (listed starting from North in counter-clockwise direction) Sasserides F, Tycho T, F and U, Tycho E and Tycho B in the south west. Now I've learned that Surveyor 7 has landed in January 1968 between Sasseriedes F and Tycho T.

All right, after all of this text, here's the sketch:

Telescope: Martini 10" f/5 truss-tube Dobson
Eyepiece: ExploreScientific 6.7mm/82°
Date & Time: May 2nd, 2020, 2100-2145 CEST
Location: home terrace, Dusseldorf region, Germany
Technique: Koh-i-Noor chalk and carcoal pens on black sketching paper
Size: appr. 10" x 10"

Clear skies!

Achim

[Waddensky]

What a beautiful, detailed sketch and lovely story! Thanks for sharing. I like the coin, the 1572 SN must have been a wonderful sight. I was in Landskrona last year - unfortunately i wasn't able to visit Ven. The Tycho Brahe Museum is high on my list.

[JeremyS]

Lovely!

[Ruud]

A wonderful sketch. Fabulous!

[acr_astro]

Hello Koen, Jeremy and Ruud,

thanks a lot for the wonderful feedback!

And thanks for all the likes!

Clear skies!

Achim 

[Mike JW]

The sketch works so well. It is so 3D that I felt I could actually reach inside it. A cracker. Well done. Mike