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...
Open Cluster Category
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...
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...
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 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...
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. 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...
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: 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...
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...
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...
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...
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: 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: 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 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...
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...
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'...
Sketch of NGC 559Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: This grainy, irregular open cluster lies at the head of a chain of splattered stars at low power. At 120X, it is bracketed by two bright, wide doubles. Three brighter stars mark its southeast corner as a triangle. I plotted...
Observation Notes: This misty cluster shared the same low power field of view as NGC 663 to the south. At 120X, the cluster takes on a triangular shape with several doubles throughout. A bright star marks its southern apex. Of the 58 stars plotted in the sketch, 28 were...
Observation Notes: Riding the rush of just finishing a sketch of M17, I considered looking for the "Owl Cluster". However, I couldn't recall the designation, so I went after this beautiful cluster instead. The shape of the cluster seemed to be divided into 4 main clumps arranged north, south,...
Digital VersionClick image for larger version Pencil Version Sketch Refinement - August 4, 2006 This is another sketch that I ended up refining recently. I wanted to make the weights of the fainter stars less bold to provide a better sense of variation in stellar magnitude that is apparent through...
Click on image above for larger version (86K). Observation Notes: This little knot of stars was a stop I made while cruising through Perseus, Cassiopeia and Camelopardalis. As I navigated to the area, I ran into Kemble's Cascade. It was a pleasant surprise--I'm not very familiar with the area...
Observation Notes: I first noticed NGC 1647 between the horns of Taurus in a wide-field astro photo I shot of the area in November 2005. I've been meaning to observe and sketch it since then. At 37.5X magnification, the cluster appeared large, bright and sparse. Two colorful yellow and...
Sketch of NGC 2169 (The 37 Cluster) and Struve 848 Move mouse over image to view label.Click for larger version. Observation Notes So many old sketches, so little time--this one is over a year old. NGC 2169 really did look like an upside-down, angular #37. I plotted 19 stars...
Sketch of NGC 2244 (NGC 2239) and Sh 2-275 (Rosette Nebula)Click image to view larger version. Observation Notes: If you find yourself at a dark site with Orion and Monoceros sprawled across the meridian, don't pass up this gorgeous showpiece of the winter sky. While at Sunset Crater National Monument,...
Move mouse over sketch to see labels. Click image for larger version. Observation Notes The observing highlight of the evening atop Haleakala was gazing through my binoculars at the rich starscape in the vicinity of Eta Carinae. I had not done any homework on the area beforehand, so I...
Click image for larger version Observation Notes: On the night of this observation, I settled in for a nice long look at NGC 457 and nearby NGC 436 with my 15 x 70 Oberwerk binoculars. I used my mirror mount which allowed me to sit comfortably and look down while...
Click image to view larger version. Observation Notes This stunning group of open clusters and brilliant field stars was first pointed out to me a few years ago by Brent Archinal during my first dark sky observing trip at Anderson Mesa. He called it "The False Comet" while circling it...
Click sketch to view larger image. Observation Notes Since I originally made this observation close to two years ago, I've been a little concerned by a few of the features I portrayed in the sketch. The elongation of unresolved stars in NGC 6520 didn't seem to be aligned correctly,...
Move mouse over sketch to view the impression this cluster left on me. Observation Notes: Passing high cirrus gave me grief during this observation. Giselle and some other kids in the neighborhood hollered as Perseid meteors streaked across the sky. After plotting 34 framework stars, I had to restart...
Observation Notes: This is the first deep sky observation I've made from my home in a long time. I feel a debt to my observations and sketches to give deep sky objects the darkest sky I can find. But I'm finding fewer and fewer opportunities to pack up and...
Click image for larger version. Observation Notes: This cluster showed up as a soft, grainy, elongated glow at 37.5X which became more resolved at 120X. It was elongated East-West with a PA of about 100 degrees. Its long dimension was about 6 arc minutes and was bracketed on the east...
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