The importance of even a rubbish sketch.

[Moonshane]

Hi all

I openly admit that I cannot even draw to the standard of a talented two year old; my talents lie with a camera (non Astro) and in observing skills generally, Astro skills being honed every time I observe - still very much a beginner as this tale will confirm

I've seen the lovely sketches by various people and cannot hope to match them BUT as there are probably lots of people that feel like me, I thought it would be good to show how even the most basic and unskilled sketch with a pen in your notebook can help confirm and even identify features found in the night sky.

My first sketch was of what I initially thought was M56. I ummed and arred about it for ages and decided in the end that I must be right even though it did not have the concentrated look of the other Globular Clusters I have seen. What I didn't realise was that I had been a complete Muppet and used the wrong star to start my Telrad hop from. M56 is between Alberio and Sulafat but I looked between Sulafat and Sadr all the time thinking to myself 'the scale looks all wrong'. I then appreciated the angle of Sheliak and Sulafat pointed at Alberio and then found M56 with no trouble.

Thankfully, my doubts made me think to make a rough sketch of what was a distinctive pattern of brighter stars around the 'M56' that wasn't. With a bit of very rough work I managed to make my sketch more 'sky like' and rounded off the stars etc. For both of the sketches I have included the original from my notebook too.

The bonus here was that not only did I see a new Messier (M56) but I also confirmed the identity of the 'not M56' in Cygnus. I looked at Stellarium for where it was and there was a dot for NGC 6819, The Foxhead Cluster. Images of this on Stellarium and online confirm my sketch is accurate(ish) for this feature another newbie for me.

My next sketch was made for a different reason. I was looking for M29 in Cygnus and although I thought I found it, this whole area is one big open cluster of stars when you look through the scope. The whole area is truly stunning and if you have never look around here with a wide angle lens then do so - it's beautiful. So, as there was again a distinct pattern of brighter stars I made a quick sketch of the pattern and checked this later. Again I could see the pattern well enough to be completely happy I saw M29, another new Messier for me.

Both sketches are below and hopefully will encourage others to try and make sketches like I did even if your artistic skills are not what you could call refined!

cheers

Shane

[DarkerSky]

Well done Shane. It's good to see your sketches - and you are right in that noting down what you see in any sort of format, even a description, is a good thing. It helps capture the moment and encourages more time at the eyepiece to really get absorbed by what you are seeing.

You also get a different perspective at the EP than looking at a photo. For example, I prefer to look at globulars in the EP as you get a much better sense of depth and star brightness than you do in most astro photos. Comet K5 McNaught is another example - in the EP you can see core structure much more clearly than in a photo.

I've never seen the foxhead cluster - so that's on my summer observing list now !!

[Moonshane]

cheers Seb

I was recently looking at M103 and M52 (or thought I was) but then when I checked Turn Left at Orion, realised there were 24 or so open clusters in the same area - this is what 'forced' me to sketch what saw last night. I have now crossed M103 and M52 off my Messier list until I confirm them again.

I must have a look at Comet K5 McNaught, is it easy to find manually?

[Psychobilly]

well done with the sketches and tracking the objects down in Stellarium

Putting a piece of card between the pages in the notebook might help with the impressions of the pen - wicked effect in the scanned inverted image ...

This might help you find C2009/K5 McNaught...

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-widefield-special-events-comets/104065-comet-c-2009-k5-mcnaught-finder-charts-14-05-2010-next-28-days.html

[yeti monster]

My initial sketch of the jewel box was done on the back of a work order form using a large marker pen, after dashing in from the scope, which was behind the dive spread and the paint locker, on the port side of the rig. I'd memorised the pattern of the stars and on a whim, dotted them down, much as Shanes ones are. there's plenty of time to do the details once you've got the bare bones I recon.

[Moonshane]

well done with the sketches and tracking the objects down in Stellarium

Putting a piece of card between the pages in the notebook might help with the impressions of the pen - wicked effect in the scanned inverted image ...

This might help you find C2009/K5 McNaught...

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-widefield-special-events-comets/104065-comet-c-2009-k5-mcnaught-finder-charts-14-05-2010-next-28-days.html

thanks Billy,

I'll have a look for it next time out. always wanted to see a comet since I started Astronomising. I saw Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp but I was only really into birding then and missed out

I have actually printed off some circular templates to help me draw what I can see at the eyepiece. These will definitely be better and I think that these just done will give me the confidence to have a got at something a bit more complete.

by the way, I tend to take a quick photo these days - it's a lot quicker than scanning

cheers

Shane

[Moonshane]

My initial sketch of the jewel box was done on the back of a work order form using a large marker pen, after dashing in from the scope, which was behind the dive spread and the paint locker, on the port side of the rig. I'd memorised the pattern of the stars and on a whim, dotted them down, much as Shanes ones are. there's plenty of time to do the details once you've got the bare bones I recon.

I totally agree. it's always a good idea to retain the source material too I reckon as sometimes when you get more experienced you look back and think, hang on, that's not quite right!

[Talitha]

Well done Shane! Your post illustrates () that sketching is a very important part of being a good observer. And congratulations on the two new Messiers!

[AllanJ]

Thanks for the post Shane, it is very encouraging for someone else starting with sketching. Like you, I have a couple of sketches on a ruled pad that I did months ago, but now that I have acquired a dob I am determined to get the hang of astro sketching properly. So I've trawled the forum - thanks Carol - and started looking through my back issues on Astronomy Now. And bought a plain paper pad.

Allan

[Moonshane]

good luck Alan!

it will be interesting to see how we get on. I reckon the best thing about it (even if the results won't win prizes) is that you keep a prolonged view on an object rather than a quick look and off to the next one. This way you/we will probably enjoy them all the more! I created some templates for the next time out and hope they may be useful to others. They should invert easily as well if you scan/photograph them and adjust in photoshop or similar.

cheers

Shane

sketch template.pdf

[Moonshane]

Well done Shane! Your post illustrates () that sketching is a very important part of being a good observer. And congratulations on the two new Messiers!

Thanks Carol - my kinda humour!

I am hoping this is the start of a long and gradually improving road of sketches - a much cheaper and simpler option than imaging and also reflects what you actually see rather than the albeit lovely, images

[paul mc c]

I think any sketches done no mater how they appear,are really good.It is a record of what the observer sees and it is always good to look back on and see the the progress that is made as time goes on.