M15 & M33

[Andrew]

Skies were lovely and clear here late last night (1:00-2:30) - with transparency better than for some time. I was planning to keep my session short, but as the skies improved it was hard to pack up

Continued my Messier sketching project, starting with M15. I hadn't looked at it for some time and had forgotten how spectacular it is. At x159 it had a mottled interior with a bright core and maybe c. 20 stars resolved. At x318 there were c. 50 stars resolved including a series of loops and chains around the edges of the cluster.

After that I had a quick spin around some favourite objects. I finshed that with a look at M31/M32/M110 and noticed that for the first time from my back garden I could see something approaching a dust lane on the edge of M31. Inspired by that I took a look for NGC891, which I've failed to find a couple of times before. It was an obvious bright splinter of light.

Given how well galaxies were showing I thought I'd take a look for M33, which often shows little but the core from my site. I spent some time on it estimating it's visible extent from changes in brightness, before realising that I could see what appeared to be two broad spiral arms. This was a real surprise to me - I hadn't expected these to be visible under my less than dark skies. I checked my sketch against photos when I got in and was thilled to see that it wasn't just my imagination - they were in the right place! Here's hoping for more nights like that soon!

[Andrew]

I think my monitor must be packing up - last night my M33 sketch looked nice and bright - today it's barely visible! Brighter version attached below:)

[Craig H]

Andrew, fantastic sketches mate, M15 looks like a lot of stars to sketch! . I'm Gonna have to have a look at this one next time i'm out ... not to sketch though !.... maybe with more practice. .....Keep em' comming mate, because they're an inspiration to us budding sketchers

[Doc]

Great report and fantastic sketches. You must have dark skies as I can barely see M33 yours looks really bright.

[Andrew]

Mick,

Conditions a couple of nights ago were better than for some time - it's certainly the best view of M33 I've had from home before. It's still not that bright (more like the first version of my sketch before my monitor problems!). I realised the other night that it's a bit like M31 in some respects ~ the view is dominated by the core, such that sometimes you think that is all you can see, but if you really pan round and allow for how big it is you begin to see the rest of it. After 45 mins+ of concentration and averted vision the arms begin to show

[stefski]

Great sketches Mick. Yoiu're right about M33...If you look at it long enough, you begin to see the faint halo. The view from my house is much dimmer than yours, but I have seen a little structure in this baby with my Nx11!

Stef