What motivates an amateur astronomer to hunker down over an eyepiece and draw what they see? Have you ever looked at an astronomical sketch and wondered why the artist handled it the way they did? If you are a long-time astronomical sketcher, you probably have a some goals and methods...
November 2008 Archives
I can't remember the last time I picked up a paint brush to create something I found inspiring. It's been too many years, that's for sure. After a few years of creating technical illustrations of my observations, I've really gotten the urge to do something a bit more creative...
Observation Notes: What a beautiful sight! The soft, round galaxy shared the view with the brilliant, citrusy orange Mirach. The galaxy itself had a gradual condensation toward the center. Seeing was too soft to see whether the core was stellar though. It appeared to be about 1.5 - 2...
Situated on the west side of the Lowell Observatory Mars Hill campus is a picturesque telescope dome nestled in the trees. One night last year, I shot a photo of it lit by a waxing moon and nearby sodium vapor light. Auriga can be seen setting just over the...
I decided to revisit a variety of older photos recently and try reprocessing them. In particular, I've had a really difficult time processing the noise out of my short, 30 second landscape & sky shots. After seeing some amazing sub-minute night photos by David Harvey, I was inspired to give...
Observation Notes: This planetary nebula was a nice detour after traveling along Kemble's Cascade and the sparkling splash of NGC 1502. It was readily evident as a soft disc at 48X. At 120X, it had a very slight aqua tint. I found it too faint to examine well at...
Move mouse over sketch above to view labels and different positions. Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: Two comets within the span of a week. It feels great to pull another one in. Comet 2006 OF2 was discovered by J. Broughton on July 17, 2006. It is currently...
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