M17
Another member of the top-5 of most beautiful objects in the sky, according to my humble opinion: the lovely Swan or Omega nebula. Personally I prefer the nickname “swan” because to me it truly resembles a swan, floating on a misty lake. Yes, obviously you’d have to turn this image clockwise about 80° but I’m sure that you’ll see what I mean. It’s a large, diffuse nebula with some remarkable, dark dustlanes in it, especially a very big one under the swan’s head. These dustclouds are obviously invisible to the visual observer, but it’s them which give this nebula its unusual shape, blocking the light from the bright nebula and stars behind them.
M20
The Trifid Nebula, another one of those spectacular objects which are almost unobservable in Western ...
M20
The Trifid Nebula, another one of those spectacular objects which are almost unobservable in Western and Northern Europe due to their low altitude above the horizon. Here in Italy, you can see it in all of its splendour. Note that the particular ”division” of this nebula into three parts is caused by dark dustclouds which block the light of the bright nebula behind. I zoomed in at 194x to make this drawing so I could show you as many details as possible. It’s also at these sorts of magnifications that the true power of an 18″ telescope becomes evident. Whereas in any 8″ the image would become almost black (especially with the use of an UHC nebula filter), in an 18″ the background is still greyish and a multitude of stars and nebula filaments leap out at you!
M35 + NGC2158
I wanted a challenge and I got it with this object. It took me over an hour and a half at the eyepiece to draw all this (without considering the time it took me to work it out on the pc) and still I wasn’t able to quite finish it. Suddenly, I didn’t see the object as good anymore as before. When I looked at the horizon I saw to my frustration that the moon had just appeared. But my frustration went completely through the roof when I also saw that a huge cloud was beginning to cover the entire sky (and M35). But apart from some very faint stars I think that I got it all so I left it there. For the rest it was quite a romantic experience, also because I heard a couple of wild boars grunting and digging in the shrubs at merely 20m away from me. Apart from the bright and rich cluster of M35, I captured the small but lovely NGC2158 in the same view. It’s not as well known perhaps as the large Messier cluster, but I just love it.
M46 + NGC2438
M46 is one of the most spectacular open clusters you can imagine. It is enormously ...
M46 + NGC2438
M46 is one of the most spectacular open clusters you can imagine. It is enormously rich, it is large and… already visible in ordinary binoculars. The downside is that in Northern Europe it’s too low above the horizon to allow decent observation. Fortunately here in the Italian mountains that problem is academic. I spent about two hours in the bitter cold to make this drawing and afterwards more than twice as much behind the pc. But eventually I’m pleased with the result and I hope you are too. By the way… if you look closely, you’ll see that this wonderful open cluster has a small surprise in store for you… a cute little planetary nebula! Without nebula filter you could almost miss it, but with a UHC or OIII filter it just leaps out at you. Oh… what a beautiful sight…
M57
The famous Ring Nebula… one of the easiest planetary nebulae, a remnant of an exploded star. Unfortunately, no central star to be seen. The sky was quite turbulent and there was also a quarter moon so that’s more than enough as an excuse, the central star always being very difficult to see.
M56
Globular clusters are truly spectacular objects. Many of them can already be seen as small, greyish blobs with ordinary binoculars, but only a sizeable telescope will bring out their true beauty. M56 is a smaller one and it’s also quite compact, so it’s not so easy to resolve the individual stars in its core. But still it’s a lovely object and a must for every Deep-Sky lover.
M65 – M66 – NGC3628
Spring's in the air... and here's the galaxy season again. As a warm-up, I made ...
M65 – M66 – NGC3628
Spring’s in the air… and here’s the galaxy season again. As a warm-up, I made a sketch of the famous “Leo Triplet”, or more scientifically galaxies M65, M66 and NGC3628, all in the same field of view. The nice thing about having quite a bit of telescope aperture at my disposal (plus a more than decent sky) is that all these little galaxies begin to show a character of their own. They’re no longer faint, greyish blobs but you can already see quite a lot of structures in them. M65, for example, is quite compact but showed a clear 2-blade helical form, whereas M66 is much more “open” and I clearly saw dark lanes around the very bright core. NGC3628 on the other hand is a bit fainter and very elongated as we see it on its side. The dark dust lane however was clearly visible across its entire length. Ah… how I love these little gems…
M74
M74 is a face-on galaxy in the constellation Pisces. It is one of the dimmest Messiers and therefore a challenge for smaller telescopes, but on the other hand it offers an easily visible spiral structure.
M76
The "Little Dumbell" or, as I prefer, the "Butterfly", is a spectacular little planetary nebula ...
M76
The “Little Dumbell” or, as I prefer, the “Butterfly”, is a spectacular little planetary nebula in the constellation of Perseus and already visible in even the smallest telescopes. As with most planetary nebulae it takes a bit of zooming-in in order to reveal a great number of detail, although it’s peculiar shape can already be distinguished at low mags. There are in fact very few planetary nebulae which show as many details as this one to the visual astronomer with a “normal” telescope. I clearly saw the faint “wings” of the butterfly, whereas under urban skies only the “body” can be seen. So I was very happy with that and it was yet another proof that moving to the Italian mountains pays off when you’re into astronomy.
Sword of Orion
The Sword of Orion, with obviously the famous Orion Nebula at its centre, is one of the most spectacular winter sights. Also visible on the drawing is NGC1980 (on the left border) which appeared much brighter than expected without special nebula filter. The brightest borders of the Orion Nebula appeared a little orangy-reddish to me, which I reflected in the drawing. However, I realise that the viewing of colours is a sensitive subject among visual astronomers and not everyone sees them. I also failed to see more than 4 stars in the trapezium, which is not unnatural at this low magnification, although at times I thought I could make out the E star in it. But I wasn’t sure so didn’t draw it.
NGC40
This little gem is surprisingly enough not very well known among us, Astronomy lovers. But ...
NGC40
This little gem is surprisingly enough not very well known among us, Astronomy lovers. But as you can see, it’s a beautiful planetary nebula which happily shows a lot of detail and a bright central star, the remnant of a supernova explosion. The old star’s atmosphere was ejected and now forms the circular nebula around it. As with most planetary nebulae, you have to push magnification well beyond 200x to see the details inside, but fortunately these objects easily allow this due to their high surface brightness, even with smaller telescopes.
NGC253
The Sculptor Galaxy is one of the brightest and finest galaxies in the sky. Unfortunately ...
NGC253
The Sculptor Galaxy is one of the brightest and finest galaxies in the sky. Unfortunately over here in the north of Italy it’s never very high above the horizon. On top of that, I was hampered by a small crescent moon and rather poor transparency. But anyway, it was the very first time that I observed it (yes… after more than 30 years of being an astronomy buff!) and I was very happy with the result. I hope you like it too.
NGC772
This little galaxy is a rather unknown treasure in the otherwise quite unremarkable constellation of ...
NGC772
This little galaxy is a rather unknown treasure in the otherwise quite unremarkable constellation of Aries. Both of the principal spiral arms were clearly visible at 85x but it remains an object for medium and large telescopes. It was a very cold night but the quality of the sky was irresistible so I didn’t mind spending an hour glued to the eyepieces at all.
NGC1931
When we think about Auriga, we automatically think about the wonderful threesome of open clusters ...
NGC1931
When we think about Auriga, we automatically think about the wonderful threesome of open clusters M36-M37-M38 and perhaps also the Flaming Star nebula. But this constellation is much more than that. It contains loads of beautiful little star clusters which unfortunately remain quite anonymous and not often visited. Take this one for example, a small and rather poor cluster but… which has a small surprise in store if you want too look at it a little closer. Not only is the right-lower corner star of the “house” a quadruple star (of which I only saw 3 members at the rather “low” magnification of 206x), but around it there’s a beautiful little nebula. Some say that it’s a miniature version of the Orion Nebula, with a “trapezium” at its centre. And I have to say that I concur with that. I saw a clear and straight division between a brighter lower part and a dimmer upper part. Unfortunately the sky was quite humid and this didn’t make observation easy. But I hope you like the drawing anyway.
NGC2194
This little open cluster is so cute, it’s within reach of even a small telescope, it’s easy to find about halfway between Betelgeuze and gamma Geminorum, but nonetheless it’s seldom paid a visit. What a pity! I hope that my drawing will change all that. I wasn’t able to resolve the cluster completely, perhaps because I was limited to only 206x. Also the slightly veiled sky didn’t really help. But all in all I was very happy with the observation and I promised myself I would take a look at it more often.
NGC2359
Here's another one of those spectacular nebulae: Thor's Helmet. Although through my telescope it looks ...
NGC2359
Here’s another one of those spectacular nebulae: Thor’s Helmet. Although through my telescope it looks a bit upside down, the shape is obvious isn’t it? It’s a typical winter object and unfortunately rather low above the horizon, especially at the time I made this drawing. But even in smaller telescopes it will reveal a lot of detail with the aid of a good nebula filter. The central star is an extremely hot giant which blows the surrounding gas cloud in a kind of a bubble shape. The gas is heated up and emits light. Therefore this kind of nebula is called “emission nebula”. It’s roughly 15.000 lightyears away from us and 30 lightyears in size.
NGC2775
Here's another very interesting object in the dull and dim constellation of Cancer. I call ...
NGC2775
Here’s another very interesting object in the dull and dim constellation of Cancer. I call it a cure for those who don’t like to observe galaxies because “they’re nothing but faint little blobs”. It’s an easily visible galaxy which shows quite a bit of detail and explicit spiral arms which embrace the bright core. When I made this drawing I had the impression that one of the spiral arms extended upwards and I noticed some haze around the little star above-right of the galaxy. Afterwards, when I looked at photos of the object, this didn’t seem to be the case. But I left the drawing as it is because this was what I (thought I) saw.
NGC3242
Who says that spring's only about galaxies and globulars? What about this little treasure, hidden ...
NGC3242
Who says that spring’s only about galaxies and globulars? What about this little treasure, hidden all alone in one of the least fashionable parts of the sky… the mighty “Ghost of Jupiter”? Planetary nebulae are generally small objects but usually also have a very high surface brightness, which means that they’re just begging for high magnifications. Due to reasons already explained, however, I couldn’t push my scope further than 206x and there was a quarter moon around. But nevertheless the core structures leapt out at me, even without the use of a filter. I couldn’t see the central star though…
NGC4656
Ah... the magnificent Crowbar Galaxy... one of spring's greatest treasures. Its shape is simply amazing, ...
NGC4656
Ah… the magnificent Crowbar Galaxy… one of spring’s greatest treasures. Its shape is simply amazing, the details are stunning. I’ve heard people complain that spring is not an exciting season for astronomers because most of the objects in the spring sky are galaxies. And with galaxies they mean faint, greyish blobs with nothing else to see on them. I’d strongly advise them to take a look at this one. I’m sure they’ll change their minds instantly.
NGC6503
I like browsing the heavens in search for the “unbeaten path”; objects which are often neglected but still have so much to offer. One of these is undoubtedly this lovely galaxy in the constellation of Drago, the dragon. With a magnitude of just over 10 it is within reach of most telescopes and I was impressed by the amount of detail it offered. The core was bright and more or less rectangular, with the right 2/3 clearly brighter than the left 1/3. Under the core there was absolute nothing, as if a dark dust lane blocked the light there. Above it, the brightness of the core faded into the background. To the left and right there were two clear spiral arms visible like crescent moon disks and indeed separated from the core. Yes… loved it!
NGC6960
The Veil Nebula is the remnant of a supernova that exploded somewhere between 5000 and 8000 years ago. The filaments of gas were dispersed in all directions, away from the dying star. The western part has a particularly delicate structure with the reasonably bright star 52 Cygni in the middle (this star is much closer to us and has nothing to do whatsoever with the nebula). It took me about an hour to catch all the fine filaments on paper but I’m very fond of the result. The drawing also shows what a strong nebula filter (OIII) can do. It doesn’t make the nebula brighter at all, but dims the background and the surrounding stars in such a way that the nebula stands out a lot more and hence you can observe the nebula structures a lot better.
NGC7008
The so-called Fetus-Nebula in the constellation of the Swan is one of my personal favourites. ...
NGC7008
The so-called Fetus-Nebula in the constellation of the Swan is one of my personal favourites. It’s a fairly small planetary nebula, but so rich in features that it’ll never bore you. Therefore I’m a bit disappointed by its hardly romantic nickname and if ever someone comes up with a better alternative, be sure to have my vote! Please give this nebula a try, even if you’re only having a small telescope.
NGC7086
NGC7086 is an unknown but nevertheless lovely open cluster in Cygnus. The first thing that ...
NGC7086
NGC7086 is an unknown but nevertheless lovely open cluster in Cygnus. The first thing that draws your attention is the cross-like central figure with exactly in its “heart” a bright and very red star. This star actually doesn’t belong to the cluster itself but still gives it an even more spectacular appearance. What I also noticed, was a kind of “nebulosity of stars” behind the main structures, which I couldn’t resolve. Whether this was due to my imagination (caused by the large number of tiny stars in the core) or whether there are still a lot more (invisible) stars in this cluster I don’t know. When I googled some images of this cluster afterwards it appears that there are indeed much more stars in that area which seem impossible to distinguish individually at the eyepiece, but which may cause this effect.
Stephan’s Quintet
Stephan's Quintet is arguably the most famous compact cluster of galaxies, but since its brightest member ...
Stephan’s Quintet
Stephan’s Quintet is arguably the most famous compact cluster of galaxies, but since its brightest member is only magnitude 13,9 it’s not an easy object. For this drawing I zoomed it at 255x in order to try to see as much detail as possible. Unfortunately bad seeing and above all a nasty wind made the observation difficult. Not to mention standing on a rather wobbly stepladder.
“Frosty Leo”
“Frosty Leo” is an object that was only recently discovered, in 1987 if I’m not mistaking. It’s not yet a planetary nebula but a protoplanetary nebula. This means that the collapsing central star is rapidly ejecting its outer shell but that the ionisation phase which forms the eventual nebula has not yet taken place. So the gases from the star are not yet emitting light yet but merely reflect the light from the dying star. I had some trouble finding “Frosty Leo” because I believed it to be somewhat bigger, whereas at 85x it can easily be mistaken for a star. Even at 206x it just looks like a tiny little “bar” with the lower end being slightly brighter. Unfortunately I’m blocked at this magnification for the moment due to some modifications I made to my telescope, but I hope you enjoy the sketch anyway.
1 ARI
Some people argue that a Dobsonian telescope is only a light-bucket, made out of cardboard ...
1 ARI
Some people argue that a Dobsonian telescope is only a light-bucket, made out of cardboard and unsuitable for high-quality and high-resolution observation. This may have been true in the eighties, but today things have changed. In fact, I challenge any other telescope to beat a good Dobson! Here’s a nice double star, 1 ARI: magnitude 6,0 and 7,5 with a distance of only 3 arcseconds. As you can see, there’s still a lot of black between the two stars, even during a night with a lot of turbulence in the ky. The primary star looked yellowish to me, but I didn’t verify if this is true. The seconday star also appeared a lot fainter than its true magnitude would suggest, but obviously this is an optical illusion caused by the extreme vicinity of the brighter star.
Sigma ORI + STF761
This system of two multiple stars is a joy to observe in every telescope. From ...
Sigma ORI + STF761
This system of two multiple stars is a joy to observe in every telescope. From low magnification in a small refractor to 800x in a gigantic Dobson. They will reveal something extraordinary to everyone. Obviously, I wasn’t able to separate the central star of Sigma ORI because with a separation of merely 0,25″ this is science-fiction for every visual observer. Also the rather poor seeing and the full moon didn’t really help. But nonetheless I was touched once again by this system’s beauty. I hope you like it too.
Mars 19 Mar 2012
Mars may be a very popular planet and one of the closest to Earth, it isn’t an easy object at all, even though it can be one of the brightest “stars” in the sky. The reason for that is that the details on the planet are quite faint and tend to be made invisible by the planet’s brightness. However, here’s another reason why observing with two eyes will help because the details will leap out a lot easier as the excess brightness is dispersed over both eyepieces. The sky was fairly calm as well and I had no trouble at all seeing Syrtis Major, the Sinus Meridiani and other features in sharp detail. To the right, you can see the northern polar cap, which was pretty small at the time this drawing was made. The six “rays” around the planet are no fruit of my imagination to make the drawing look better. In fact, they’re evidence that this drawing was made with a Newtonian telescope because they’re diffractions caused by the three spider vanes that hold my secondary mirror.
Jupiter 06 Dec 2011
Jupiter is the biggest planet of our solar system and offers a myriad of features ...
Jupiter 06 Dec 2011
Jupiter is the biggest planet of our solar system and offers a myriad of features even for small telescopes. Evidently, in an 18″ Dobson you can make out the most wonderful festoons and colours on this beautiful planet, even when the sky’s very turbulent like on the night of this particular observation. Nonetheless this proves that the story about large-aperture Newtonian telescopes only coming second when high-resolution observing is concerned, is just a myth. The amount of detail was stunning, even though you had to wait a few moments from time to time for the sky turbulence to settle down again. I’ve never been much of a planetary observer, but when I saw this I was glued to my eyepieces for hours. Who would blame me? On this drawing, three of Jupiter’s Galilean moons can be seen. One of which, Europa, was about to transit in front of the planet and appears to be almost “touching” Jupiter at its upper-right edge.
Comet 2011-L4 “Panstarrs”
Comets are very curious and exciting objects. Mostly because you never know when a comet's ...
Comet 2011-L4 “Panstarrs”
Comets are very curious and exciting objects. Mostly because you never know when a comet’s coming to visit us (apart from the minority which has a regular orbit around the sun, such as Halley’s comet) and even when a new comet’s discovered, it remains a guess how visible it will be. But in March 2013 we were blessed with a very bright comet, even though it remained very close to the horizon. Frustrating enough, I couldn’t observe it from my shack because of the hill behind our field which hides the lower 10-15° of the northwestern sky from my telescope. So I ran to the street behind this hill, armed with a pair of binoculars and a camera. With the naked eye, however, no comet to be seen. The camera only showed the comet as an extremely faint blob. But with the binoculars it was quite evident, just above the Monte Ventasso. So I combined both the picture and my impression through the binoculars into this drawing. A small crescent moon illuminated the sky and against the Monte Ventasso you can see the lights of the village of Busana. It’s just an impression of the beauty of this region and I hope you like it.