Venus and Mercury have been sharing space in the evening sky recently. This shot was taken along Route 66, east of Flagstaff. Venus-Mercury Conjunction - 8 January 2015 - 6:01PM (9 January 2015 - 0101 UT) I haven't made a trip to a dark sky location to observe, sketch and...
Messier Category
Photograph of Winter Milky Way over Sunset Craterwith sketches of deep sky objects in the area. Move mouse over sketch above to see where each deep sky object resides.Click image for larger version. Click here for larger version without call-out lines.. . . . . Other Print Versions: Vertical...
I've had my 15 x 70 Oberwerk binoculars for nearly a year now and have really enjoyed observing with them. In September, I started putting them to use on the Messier catalog. My goal was to see if I could observe all 110 objects from home, with as little fuss...
The 2009 All Arizona Messier Marathon has been over for a few days. And only now have I been able to recover my senses enough to write about it. My first Messier Marathon in 2006 was plagued by a clouds, and was only able to log an even 100 objects....
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original 37X version to clean it up and update formatting. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: At 37X, M1 is a smudge with soft, but not diffuse edges. It seems to be elongated northwest to southeast....
Observation Notes: This globular cluster was bright and concentrated. The nucleus was not stellar in appearance, but still concentrated. Granularity was barely perceptible at 48X. At 120X, the granularity was still on the subtle side. Only 3 or 4 stars appeared to be flickering in and out. The brightest...
Observation Notes: After touring a trio of Messier galaxies this evening, I settled in for a long look at the beautiful globular cluster, M3. At low power, it appeared as a soft spot on a gray background. At 120X with a bit of averted vision, however, it exploded with...
Observation Notes: I regret not making this observation at a better time of year and from a better location. Scorpius was headed into bad light pollution as seen from my home, and the neighbors were kind enough to shoot on the porch light as soon as I began the...
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original to clean it up and update formatting. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: This is a huge and structurally interesting globular cluster. The core is compact and clumpy in places. The outer halo is extensive,...
Observation Notes: This open cluster is NW of M7 in Scorpius. I noticed more graininess in the background compared to M7. It was also tighter than M7 and filled about 20' of the 1.4° view. The pattern that stood out to me right away was a parallelagram of 4...
Observation Notes: A beautiful, wide open cluster near the stinger of Scorpius. While the bulk of the cluster filled the 1.4° view, the more concentrated portion spanned about 15-20'. This concentration was bounded by a square of brighter stars. The SW corner of that square appeared to be marked...
Click above image for large version. Observation Notes: M8 has been on my list of "ambitious" sketches to do or re-do for a few months now. I observed and sketched it nearly 2 years ago, and have been waiting for the right opportunity this summer. I tried observing and sketching...
Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: Deep in the bright heart of the Lagoon Nebula lies a knot of fluorescing gas called the Hourglass Nebula. While observing at Kitt Peak Observatory's Advanced Observer's Program with four good friends, I enjoyed a couple minutes boring into the Lagoon with the...
Observation Notes: This globular had a soft profile with a mottled appearance. Granularity was hard to come by, but it was there. It appeared mainly circular and symmetrical with some faint hints of extensions. Factoids: M9 is one of the closest globular clusters to the galactic center at 5500...
Observation Notes: Granularity resolved nicely on this cluster. The core was not distinct. There was just a subtle brightening toward the center. Overall, it was circular, but some regions in the center seemed to extend north-northeast to south-southwest. It's visual extent looked to be 3.5'. There was some extra...
Observation Notes: M11 holds a special place for me. It was the first deep space object I viewed through the new telescope--besides M45 & M31 which I had seen before. It was very exciting to see something with my own eyes that prior to that night I never even...
Observation Notes: This is a big, mottled globular cluster. Averted vision gave it an overall grainy appearance with brighter stars flickering in and out across the surface. The central condensation was there, but not it was not strong. It seemed to form a trianugalr shape with one apex pointing...
Observation Notes: Well, the time seemed about right to redo the sketch of this amazing globular cluster. Visually, the cluster displays curving arcs of stars that give it the appearance of a hanging fern, or even a crawling spider. Stars, faint to bright, were resolved right across the surface....
Observation Notes: This is a large, but unresolved cluster. I didn't pick up any granularity. But hints of mottling suggest that I'm a couple inches of scope aperture shy of seeing some member stars. The core was not strong, and the outer halo faded softly to nothing. I believe...
Observation Notes: This was a large, bright globular. It was hard to find at first, due to its nearness to a number of bright stars. So it didn't stand out so well in the finder. 38X showed a hint of granularity. The southern side of the cluster seemed to...
Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: This is the time of year when M16, The Eagle Nebula, is at its best...and the summer monsoon is at its worst. I drove out to Anderson Mesa for a long evening with M16 and some of its neighbors. An early evaporation of...
Click above image to view larger sketch. Observation Notes: From Anderson Mesa, this nebula appears much larger than the typical swan shape that I see from home--even without the UltraBlock filter. The back of the swan is the brightest portion with the neck second brightest. The head appears to have...
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original to clean it up, scale down fainter stars, and update formatting. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: This was a small condensation of stars. In my 32 mm eyepiece, it could fit in the same...
Observation Notes: M19 was large and loose. Granularity appeared with averted vision. The core, while soft, hand an irregular shape with an arc running northwest to south, and an extension to the east. Factoids: M19 is the most elliptical globular cluster. This may be due to its proximity to...
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an redraw of the original to clean it up, remove color cast, and update formatting. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: M20 is a beautiful, two-lobed nebula. The southern lobe had a double-star at its core. The northern lobe had...
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original to clean it up, scale down fainter stars, and update formatting. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: I spotted this open cluster in the 1.4° wide field of my 32 mm eyepiece, where it shared...
Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: I was feeling pretty worn out when I made the trip to Anderson Mesa and wasn't sure that I wanted to tackle a monster observation like M22. But I'm glad now that I did. It really called for a lot more detail than...
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original to clean it up, scale down fainter stars, and update formatting. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: This cluster was rich with stars, but not strongly condensed. A box and oval asterism stood out in...
Observation Notes: M24 is a huge fog of stars. I couldn't fit the whole thing in the view. A number of bright stars spattered the field with a mottled cloud of granular stars. Light pollution was too heavy to get very strong structure in the cloud. Open cluster NGC...
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original to clean it up, scale down fainter stars, and update formatting. The original and comparison rollover are shown below. Move mouse over image to view comparison astrophoto. Rollover Photo Credit: Hillary Mathis, Vanessa Harvey, REU program/NOAO/AURA/NSF...
Observation Notes: This cluster didn't jump out at me. It was a hazy smudge at first glance in the 25 mm eyepiece. I took the magnification up to 120X and that helped me to see more stars. Seeing and transparency were very poor, and the rest of the cluster...
Observation Notes: This is my second observation, a year later. The nebula is huge and bright. At first glance, it looked like a two-lobed blob. But closer inspection showed an overall oval, slightly elongated west-northwest to east-southeast. The lobes were on the southeast and northwest quadrants. The southwest lobe...
Observation Notes: At 37X, this globular cluster is small, but still easily visible. I didn't see any granularity at this magnification. The nucleus was circular and tight, but not stellar. At 120X, granularity was still hard to come by. About 7 or 8 stars were blinking in and out...
Observation Notes: My first observation of this open cluster was over a year ago, and happened before I was putting more effort into my sketches. So I decided to give it another go. It's not a spectacular cluster and doesn't exactly pop out of the Milky Way backdrop, but...
Observation Notes: This was a rewarding cluster to observe. It was a pleasant sight at 38X, 120X, and 240X. At 120 and 240 X, it began to resolve into stars along the edges. Several were constantly visible, with many more forming a granular splat just east of a bright...
Click image for larger version. Sketch Refinement - August 1, 2006 I've been wanting to redo the sketch on this observation for some time now. In the original sketch, I plotted a couple key stars near the second dust band too far away from their neighbors. Since I was using...
Observation Notes: This circular galaxy lies about a half degree south of the core of M31. Its luminous profile has a stellar core to it. In the 10 mm eyepiece, the south edge of the galaxy seems to be sharper than the north edge. Factoids: M32 is a bright,...
Observation Notes: Tonight, I thought I would try resolving M33 a bit more. After a brief look in the 32 mm eyepiece, where I noted mottling, I switched to the 10 mm EP. At first, I felt lost. But as I panned around, gradually the core became obvious, and...
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original to clean it up a bit and update the format. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: This is a large, bright, easily visible open cluster. I didn't notice any dense granularity--maybe the moon-glow in the...
Sketch of Messier 35 and NGC 2158 Click for larger version. Observation Notes: This cluster is nice and resolvable at low power. As with M37 and M38, it has a bright central star--orange in color. Some yellow and blue stars to the north and east spiced up the color...
Observation Notes: Messier 36 was loaded with quite a few close doubles. The brightest stars seemed to congregate on the south side, with a bright yellow field star on the south-southeast end of the view. The cluster was nestled within a finely-grained backdrop of Milky Way stars. The color...
Observation Notes: Hoo-boy! This is a dense cluster. It had a roughly triangular shape, trisected by dark lanes focusing on a bright yellow-orange central star. It was very stunning to look at. I was really struggling with how to sketch it. Plotting star positions wasn't giving the feel for...
Observation Notes: This is my first official observation of an Auriga open cluster. The member stars are easily resolved. The main body appears to be 20' wide east to west and a bit narrower north to south (which matches up pretty nicely to the 21' dimension on the SEDS...
Observation Notes: A bright, large, open cluster with a couple dozen bright stars and many more dimmer ones. It filled the 1.4 degree field of view. The main area fits in about a half degree area. All stars appear to be white. I saw quite a lot of double...
Observation Notes: I wasn't planning on doing a full-blown observation and sketch of M40 when I did. Which is to say: at the All Arizona Messier Marathon. I hadn't done any research on it before heading 250 miles south to Arizona City. When the time came to find it,...
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original to clean it up, reduce fainter star weights, and update formatting. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: This open cluster is speckled with a variety of star brightness and color. A number of orange stars...
Sketch of Messier 42 and Messier 43 (Orion Nebula)Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: In my ongoing effort to refine my observation and sketches of M42/43, I made a new sketch on January 14. I used most of the previously sketched star field as a starting point so I...
Observation Notes: This is a bright, bold, wide-open, beautiful cluster. The stars fill the view and the brightest like to form triangular trios. The colors are a brilliant yellow, blue and white. "The Beehive" seems like a very appropriate name. Within the view, there didn't appear to be any...
Move mouse over image to see photographic overlay of the M45.Overlay photo: © 1984-2002, Anglo-Australian Observatory/Royal Obs. Edinburgh. Photograph from UK Schmidt plates by David Malin. Observation Notes: I began this observation while waiting for the waxing crescent moon to set and allow for some fainter observations and photography....
Move mouse over sketch to see labels. Observation Notes: On the evening of this observation, I headed to Sunset Crater National Monument with the kids to see if we could catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis. That turned out to be a bust. But the kids had fun...
Observation Notes: This is a dense cluster with a granular base of stars. It was a rough circle. On the north side, there was a small round patch of nebulosity about 2'-3' in diameter. The body of M46 seemed to be about 22' in diameter, but not particularly concentrated...
Observation Notes: M47 is a wide open cluster with a bright orange star on its northeast side. To the north is a smaller, less prominent cluster (NGC 2423) that has a triangular asterism within it. The shape of M47 is irregular. The brightest stars are scattered randomly. There is...
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original to clean it up and remove the color cast. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: M48 was a beautiful open cluster bounded by a distinct arc of stars. My first impression was of a field...
Sketch of Messier 49 (NGC 4472)Click image to view larger version. Observation Notes: M49 was elongated at a PA of about 170 degrees and steadily condensed toward the center. The core appeared stellar and made a notable pair with a star 1 arc minute to the east. The galaxy appeared...
Observation Notes: This was my second observation and sketch of M50. I wanted to give more attention to the entire thing, and I'm glad I did. The initial impression that I got was of a couple spiraling arms of stars spinning clockwise from the south and eastern sides of...
Observation Notes: Such a beautiful galaxy; such a painful observation. M51's large, circular extent reached almost to smaller NGC 5195. The were both arranged in a north-south direction. Both had bright, distinct cores. NGC 5195 looked to be about one-quarter the diameter of M51. My initial impression of M51...
Observation Notes: A storm had blown out earlier in the afternoon, and bursts of spontaneously condensing rain were blowing overhead at odd intervals. But I wanted to see these northern clusters before they dissappeared for the season. So I clothed the scope in towels over the eyepiece, aperture, and...
Continue reading Messier 52.
Observation Notes: This is the most eastern of 3 globular clusters I observed at the base of the Sagittaruis teapot on 10/3/04. The others were M69 and M70, and M54 was brighter than both of those, with a sharper, more condensed nucleus. I couldn't resolve any stars, even with...
Observation Notes: The 48X view showed a large star cluster. It didn't have a tight core. It was actually very loose. Granularity was apparent across its wide face. The brightest areas seemed to be the NW, but not strongly so. Overall it is dim. The 120X view shows granularity...
Observation Notes: Although it was hard taking my eyes off Alberio, I managed to find M56. The globular looked soft and round at 48X. I used the 25 mm, 10 mm, and 10 mm + 2X Barlow to view it. The 25 mm (48 X) just started to show...
Observation Notes: This was my second observation of M57, a year down the road. At 38X it was a distinct oval amidst pinprick stars. It was evident to me that it was not colorless, but possessed a subtle smoky blue color that verged ever so slightly toward green. At...
Observation Notes: M58 was my final Virgo Cluster galaxy observation on the evening of July 25. The core was faintly stellar and had a soft plateau of brightness that then dropped off gradually at the edges. It was mildly elliptical at a PA of about 70 degrees. The NGCIC...
Observation Notes: After a satisfying look at M60 and NGC 4647, I moved on to M59. This elliptical galaxy was elongated slightly at a PA of about 160 degrees (ngcic.org lists the PA as 165 degrees). It had a smoothly fading luminosity profile with a pronounced stellar core. Object...
Observation Notes: Through my 8" Dobsonian at 120X, M60 was located in the center of an equilateral triangle of stars. It had a stellar core with a smoothly fading luminosity profile. To the northwest at a PA of about 300 degrees, lay a subtle companion galaxy. OK, it was...
Sketch of Messier 61 (NGC 4303)Click image to view larger version. Observation Notes: I wasn't sure the Swelling Spiral would cooperate, but it gained enough altitude and structure started to materialize. It appeared circular with a suddenly stellar core at first glance. Next to appear was a north-south patch across...
Observation Notes: M62 was in horrible light pollution. It showed granularity without too much trouble. The core was strongly condensed and seemed to rest toward the south end of the cluster rather than centered. After a bit of research, it turns out that M62 is noted for an off-center...
Observation Notes: This evening, we were visiting friends and the kids were playing inside. I set up the scope in their back yard and gave a brief tour of some prominent DSOs to them before moving on to an official observation. The galaxy, M63, was bright and large, although...
Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: Home is not the best place to soak in galactic light, but I've got to take what I can get! After scooping up a variety of galaxies with my 15 x 70 binoculars, I decided to take a closer look at M64 with...
Observation Notes: This is my first go at the galaxy clusters in Leo and Virgo. M65 and M66 were pretty easy to find in the rear leg of Leo. Both fit easily within the 1.3° FOV of the 32 mm eyepiece. M65 was the dimmer of the two. Its...
Observation Notes: M67 is a nice, subtle open cluster, particularly in comparison to M41 which I viewed earlier in the evening. There is one bright yellow-orange star on the east side of the cluster. There are a few more orange stars scattered around. The main body of the cluster...
Observation Notes: This small globular cluster showed as a fuzzy circular patch at 37X. The 120X magnification showed a hint of 2 or 3 stars across the surface of the cluster. The brightness curve was soft with an obvious central concentration. The brightest neighboring star is to the NW....
Observation Notes: This is one of 3 globular clusters I observed at the base of the Sagittaruis teapot on 10/3/04. (The others were M69 and M54. M70 appeared as a small globular cluster with a soft distribution of luminosity, with a distinct but soft core. The 120X view seemed...
Observation Notes: Through the 25 mm eyepiece, this globular cluster was dim and small, but still remarkably grainy. It was also elongated. In the 10 mm eyepiece a number of stars showed at the edges and a few across the face. The shape was irregular, and seemed to make...
Observation Notes: I had a heck of a time finding this, by drawing a bead off Epsilon Aquarii. It was a dim small globular. I wasn't able to resolve it at 37X or 120X. Luminosity rises softly across its face. Factoids: At 53,000 light years distant, M72 is one...
Observation Notes: This asterism was hard to find. I had to find M72 first, and then move east. It was much smaller and dimmer than I expected--it's 4 stars after all. The 2 stars on the east end are the brightest. The westernmost star is the dimmest. Factoids: This...
It's been nearly 11 years since I first observed and made a very simple sketch of M74 in 2004. Because it is seen face-on and has a low surface brightness, it is considered one of the more difficult Messier objects. When I first observed it with my 6-inch Newtonian...
Observation Notes: This observation was cursed! I tried observing it 3 nights prior and spent 15 minutes gandering, switching eyepieces and seeing if I could resolve it and discern any asymmetry. Before I could pick up my sketch sheet and record it, the view faded to nothing as clouds...
Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: In preparation for an upcoming article, I made a new observation of this interesting little planetary nebula. I noticed no color in it. The southern lobe was the brightest. Both lobes were brightest at their outer apexes. The bright portion of the northern...
Observation Notes: This was one of 2 galaxies I observed the night of an observing trip out to Wupatki National Monument, north of Flagstaff. The main halo of the galaxy appeared circular, but the core seemed to elongate SW to NE. The center of the core is a thick...
Click image for larger version. The above sketch is an update to the original to clean it up and update formatting. The original is shown below. Observation Notes: This appeared as a cup-shaped nebula surrounding two stars which are aligned north to south. The arrangement looks like two vessels plowing...
Observation Notes: This globular cluster appeared circular and about 2.5' in diameter. It was condensed toward the center, but not strongly. There may be a slight elongation north-northwest to south-southeast. There were a few orange and yellow stars in the field. Seeing wasn't great, but at 240X, I could...
Observation Notes: This was a small, dim globular cluster--at least in the horrible conditions I was viewing: low in the sky, in an areas of heavy light pollution, and bad seeing to top it off. I couldn't see any granularity, or aberration in shape. It just appeared soft and...
Observation Notes: These 2 galaxies are impressive. They were an amazing treat that fit into the same view together--big and bright. M81 was the larger, brighter, and wider of the two galaxies, elongated north to south. It had a strongly condensed nucleus. It seemed to have a sharper edge...
Continue reading Messier 81 and Messier 82 - Bode's Galaxy and The Cigar Galaxy.
Binocular Observation: February 22, 2007 Move mouse over sketch to see labels. Click image for larger version. The broad stretches of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies are a real treat telescopically, but what does it look like through binoculars? And not just any old astronomy-grade binoculars, but really crummy ones?...
Sketch of Messier 85 (NGC 4382) and NGC 4394Click image to view larger version. Observation Notes: This was a great pair to observe. M85 had a stellar core and was mildly elongated at a PA of about 25 degrees and appeared to be about 4 x 3 arc minutes in...
Sketch of Messier 87 (NGC 4486), NGC 4478, NGC 4476Click image to view larger version. Observation Notes: Large, bright elliptical galaxy M87 appeared to be aligned at a PA of 100 degrees. It's core appeared stellar, and it shared the field with 2 other galaxies. The next brightest, NGC 4478...
Sketch of Messier 88 (NGC 4501)Click image to view larger version. Observation Notes: During the first few minutes of my observation, M88 appeared to be simply an elongated galaxy with a strongly condensed core aligned at about 135 degrees. After much time glued to the eyepiece, the northwest and southern...
Sketch of Messier 89 (NGC 4552)Click image to view larger version. Observation Notes: Elliptical galaxy, Messier 89 was a simple visual object: small, circular, about 2 arc minutes in diameter with a stellar appearing core. A double star punctuated the view about 8 arc minutes to the northeast. Sketch/DSS Photo...
Sketch of Messier 91 (NGC 4548)Click image to view larger version. Observation Notes: M91 appeared circular with a strongly condensed core. A prominent bar crossed the disc at a PA of about 80 degrees. The western half of this bar appeared to be a bit brighter. I couldn't detect any...
Observation Notes: I didn't realize how nice this globular cluster would look. It stood up well to magnification, with stars resolving across the face of the cluster. It appeared noticeably elliptical in its outer reaches, pointing southwest to northeast. The core was soft but robust. It seemed that the...
Observation Notes: This is a triangular arrow shaped cluster with its tip pointing southwest. This southwest tip hosts one orange and one yellow star. In the center lies a trapezium-like arrangement of stars. The main body appears to be 16' in diameter. The brightest neighboring star lies 30' to...
Observation Notes: This galaxy appears to be mostly circular, with a gradually increasing brightness toward center, with a stellar core. If anything, it may be slightly elongated east to west. Its width was about the same as the distance between two close stars to the west. Factoids: M95 is...
Observation Notes: These three galaxies were kind enough to fit in the field of view together. The two galaxies on the north side, M105 and NGC 3384 appeared about 10' apart, nucleus to nucleus. Their nucleii were softly stellar in appearance. M105 appeared basically circular and the brighter of...
Sketch of Messier 99 (NGC 4254)Click image to view larger version. Observation Notes: M99 was difficult to examine, but definitely rewarding. It appeared circular and moderately condensed at first glance. I switched from 120X to 240X and back to try to pick out structure. A star on the edge of...
Move mouse over image for labels. Observation Notes: My search for Supernova 2006X, was a good opportunity to observe M100 as well. The galaxy was circular with a bold, condensed core. There was a hint of mottling in its outer stretches. The brightest portion appeared to extend northwest to...
Sketch of Messier 101 (NGC 5457) Move mouse over image to view labels. Observation Notes: Nearly a year ago, I collaborated with Eric Graff to observe as deep into Messier 101 as we could. I didn't end up completing the observation. Nine months later, I finally got around to...
Sketch of Messier 103 - 37.5XClick image for larger version. Sketch of Messier 103 - 75XClick image for larger version. Observation Notes: M103 was pretty simple to find. It was 1° east of Ruchbah in Cassiopeia. It's pretty small compared to some of the recent Messier clusters I've viewed--about 5'...
Click images for larger versions. Observation Notes: It's about time I sketched this beautiful, bright galaxy. Once again, I observed from home, which is not the best place to see structure in galaxies--but the Sombrero was very cooperative. It was conveniently aligned at a PA of 90 degrees. The...
Observation Notes: Right after viewing M5, this was definitely a shift to the other end of the globular spectrum. I didn't resolve any member stars, although once or twice I saw what looked like a star flicker into view near the north-center core region. The brightness was very soft...
Observation Notes: My first low power view of M108 was a pleasant surprise as it shared the neighborhood with the round planetary nebula, M97. M108 is a strongly elongated galaxy, pointing east to west. The core region displayed a sturdy, rectangular bar that dropped off in brightness rather quickly,...
Observation Notes: I didn't pick up a lot of detail in this galaxy. It displayed an elliptical shape with a strongly condensed core that almost looked double in nature, due to an overlapping foreground star. The galaxy was elongated west-southwest to east-northeast, with a core that seemed to push...
Observation Notes: M110 appears very dim and diffuse. It is larger than M32, but much harder to see. It is elongated NW to SE and sort of points to M32. It is about 3/4 of a degree from the core of M31 to the west. It has a soft,...
Observation Notes: NGC 5866 appeared small, bright and strongly elongated. I estimated its length at about three arc minutes with a width less than one arc minute. My observation and sketch estimate a PA of 118 degrees. NGCIC.org lists 128 degrees. Although the galaxy possesses a thin dust lane,...
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