The Dumbbell and Ring nebulae

[Nicola Fletcher]

I was at a star party recently and had the opportunity to see M27 and M57 through some big SCTs (9.25” and 11” Celestrons). I haven’t seen them through such big scopes before and I was really impressed by the detail and size of them. These sketches obviously weren’t done at the eyepiece but I tried my best to reproduce the views using rough sketches and major star placements after I looked at them a couple of times, and I made these sketches the next day with some help with star placement from my Pocket Sky Atlas.

Last night I compared the views through my 3” Takahashi refractor, and was pleasantly surprised at how good the dumbbell in particular looked. I couldn’t see anything like as much detail as through the 9.25”, but it was still a big object through a 9mm Nagler with the sensation of the nebula ‘floating’ over the beautiful star field visible in the Tak, an impression I also got through the SCT. On the other hand, the Ring was extremely challenging through the 3” although I could reliably see it. The view through the 11” SCT was fantastic, and I’m very glad to have seen it through such a big scope.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Nicola Fletcher

[JeremyS]

I really like those sketches @Nicola Fletcher 👍🏻

[glafnazur]

Great sketches, the detail you've got in the ring nebula is amazing.

[RobertI]

Really super sketches. 👍

[Sunshine]

Nice work!

[bosun21]

Very nice sketches @Nicola Fletcher. You have definitely captured the essence of eyepiece views

[Lurcher]

Excellent!