Sketch of 12 Lyncis (Struve 948)

Observation Notes:

12 Lyncis was a great triple star system. Color contrast was very nice--the primary appeared pale yellow, with a pale blue secondary hugging it. The tertiary appeared to be dull orange. They made for a very striking sight at 120X and 240X.

I measured the A-B pair at 63 degrees with a separation of 1.5 arc seconds (based on diffraction rings) to 2.2 arc seconds (based on the astrometric eyepiece gauge). I figured I had severely misread or mislabeled the PA measurement in my notes after looking up the WDS value: 156 degrees. However, that was an 1828 value. A little more checking showed that this is actually a fast moving pair. A 1998 measurement showed 72.7 degrees, and Brian Workman's calculator comes up with 66.13 degrees for 2008.3. Currently the A-B pair is orbiting clockwise at about .5 degrees per year. Not as fast as Porrima's periastron motion over the last few years, but still notable. My A-C measurement of 310 degrees and 8.6 arc-seconds matched up nicely with more stable values from WDS, Alzner 1998 & others.

Subject	12 Lyncis (STF 948)
Classification	Multiple Star
Position (J2000)	Lynx [RA: 6:46:14.3 / Dec: +59:26:30]*
Position Angle*	A-B: 63° [2008.3 my measurement]; 66.13° [2008.3 Workman Calculator]; 72.7° [1998 Alzner]; 156° [1828 WDS] A-C: 310° [2008.3 my measurement]; 308.7° [1998 Alzner]; 308° [1831 WDS]
Separation*	A-B: 1.5" - 2.2" [2008.3 my measurement]; 1.7" [2008.3 Workman Calculator]; 1.73" [1998 Alzner]; 1.5" [1828 WDS] A-C: 8.6" [2008.3 my measurement]; 8.72" [1998 Alzner]; 8.7" [1831 WDS]
Magnitudes*	A: 5.3; B: 6.2; C: 7.2
Spectral Types*	A: A2.5V; B: A2V; C: kA6hF1mF1
Date/Time	APR 12, 2008 - 10:05 PM MST (APR 13, 2008 - 05:05 UT)
Observing Loc.	Flagstaff, Arizona, USA - Home
Instrument	Orion Skyview Pro 6LT (150 mm dia./1200 mm F/L)
Eyepieces/Mag.	10 mm Sirius Plössl + 2X Barlow (240X) 12 mm Meade Astrometric EP + 2X Barlow (200X)
Conditions	Clear, first quarter moon
Seeing	6/10 Pickering
Transparency	NELM Mag 5.0
*References	The Washington Visual Double Star Catalog, Double stars measurements (Alzner 1998), Visual Double Stars in Hipparcos (Dommanget+, 2000), Catalogue of Stellar Spectral Classifications (Skiff, 2008)

]]> http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/000847.html http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/000847.html Double Star Fri, 26 Dec 2008 23:43:22 -0700 The way the contours of this galaxy danced and materialized with increased dark adaptation, averted vision, and patience was particularly enjoyable. When I first centered my telescope on the galaxy, it was easy to spot and appeared elongated with a strongly condensed core. With time spent at the eyepiece, the outer edges of the galaxy emerged, particularly with highly averted vision. Moving my eye around just outside the boundaries of the galaxy gradually brought portions of the western dust lane into view. I have tried to show this effect in the following animation (it runs for about 7-8 seconds before repeating).

Visual Observation Animation of NGC 7331

Hopefully that illustrates in some way how an entire observation can be built up out of numerous smaller, detailed glimpses of structure. It doesn't usually appear as a detailed composite view all at once.

To aid in refining the final sketch, I supplemented the shaded version with an isophote drawing that marked the shapes and boundaries of varying areas of brightness. This allowed me to clean up the shaded drawing, and to prepare an enlarged view that captured the structure I saw.

Isophote Drawing of NGC 7331

Below is the full observing record with the included sketches. Note that I initially wrote in a PA of 150 degrees, but later revised that to 165 degrees after more carefully assessing the angle of the galaxy compared to the West marker.

Observing Log of NGC 7331

Click image for larger version.

...which leads to the final digitized sketch that I posted last week:

Sketch of NGC 7331

Sketch of NGC 891

Observation Notes:

This large, edge-on galaxy is no friend of man-made light sources. It was not difficult to find, but was still rather subtle from my back yard. It appeared as a slender, soft brightening of the sky and shared space with one rather distracting star. This star was located on the west side of the north spine of the galaxy. The glow from the star overpowered the galaxy on the north side enough to make it look lopsided at a glance--like the south spine was bulkier. Perhaps when observing from a darker site, the galaxy's luminosity would be able to hold its own against the background sky glow and that star would not seem to interfere as much. Another faint star marked the southwest tip of the galaxy's profile.

I analyzed the field for some time, to see if I could detect the central dust lane, but only got a couple fleeting hints of it. I wasn't confident enough in those glimpses to record it in the sketch. Once again, a darker sky would probably help in that effort. The galaxy appeared to be about 15 x 2 arc minutes in size and aligned at a PA of about 40 degrees. That doesn't match well with the published value of 22 degrees--it looks like I marked my west point a bit further clockwise than it actually was.

Object Information:

NGC 891was discovered by Karoline Lucretia Herschel in 1783 and is a member of the NGC 1023 group. It is also cataloged as: UGC 1831, MCG+07-05-046, H V-19, h 218, GC 527, CGCG 538.052, PGC 9031

Subject	NGC 891
Classification*	Galaxy (Sb)
Position*	Andromeda [RA: 02:22:33.5 / Dec: +42:21:03]
Size*	13.5' x 2.5' (PA 22°)
Brightness*	10.0 vMag (10.6 bMag)
Date/Time	NOV 30, 2008 - 10:30 PM MST (DEC 1, 2008 - 05:30 UT)
Observing Loc.	Flagstaff, Arizona, USA - Home
Instrument	Orion SkyQuest XT8 (203 mm dia./1200 mm F/L)
Eyepieces/Mag.	Pentax XW 10 (120X)
Conditions	Clear, cool, breezy
Seeing	5/10 Pickering
Transparency	~ Mag 6.0 NELM
*References	NGCIC.org

Digital Sketch: Jupiter-Europa Transit Entry

Move mouse over sketch above to view Europa's motion.
Click for larger version.

Observation Notes:

I brought the telescope out at sunset to view the moon and Venus with the kids. I tried to locate Jupiter in the still-bright sky with no success. I went inside to check Starry Night Pro to get a better relative position of Venus to Jupiter when I noticed a transit of Europa was due in another 20 minutes. With a better idea of Jupiter's position, I was able to find it and noticed Europa about to plunge into the planet's disc.

Europa was entering Jupiter's softer, shadowed side, so it was difficult to tell when the moon first entered the Jovian profile. I estimated first contact at 5:30 pm local time (APR 7, 2008 - 00:30 UT). It's funny how at this stage, Europa looked like a zit on Jupiter's wide, fuzzy cheek. Six minutes later, the moon finally seemed to melt into the planet. Not much further to the east, the bright, ruddy spot that was Io, also made progress against a denim-blue sky toward a transit of its own.

Europa's shadow was due to begin a transit 40 minutes later. I tried to view it, but by that time, Jupiter was too low and the view much too blurry to make out any hint of a shadow. It was still an enjoyable, and in my opinion, impressive event to witness. The above image is a digital sketch based on a rough drawing that I did on the back of a used envelope.

Subject	Jupiter-Europa Transit Entry
Classification	Planet
Position*	Sagittarius [RA: 19:40:47.9 / Dec: -021:48:27]
Size*	34" (Equatorial diameter)
Brightness*	-1.97
Date/Time	DEC 6, 2008 - 5:30 - 5:36 PM (DEC 7, 2008 - 00:30 - 00:36 UT)
Observing Loc.	Flagstaff, Arizona, USA - Home
Instrument	Orion SkyQuest XT8 Dobsonian (203 mm dia./1200 mm F/L)
Eyepieces/Mag.	Pentax XW 10 + 2X Barlow (240X)
Conditions	Clear, cool
Seeing	3/10
Transparency	Twilight - Mag 1 NELM
*Sources	Starry Night Pro Plus 5.8

Sketch of NGC 7331

Observation Notes:

I have glanced at and passed over this galaxy a number of times on my way to other nearby sights, such as Stephan's Quintet. On this evening, I finally settled down for a nice, long look at it. Although I would have loved to make this observation from a dark site, I'm taking what I can get these days. So I observed from my back yard. There is increased sky glow from the Flagstaff Mall expansion, and some incidental reflected light to deal with, so conditions weren't ideal. However, for in-town viewing in general it was pretty good. Anyway, those are my excuses. Here's what I saw.

With the Pentax XW10 eyepiece (my 2nd sketch with this EP), I had a nice, wide field to frame the galaxy. At a first glance, the galaxy was obviously elongated, but definitely not as large as I anticipated. The larger, outer reaches had to wait a bit for my eyes to adapt better to the dark, spacious recesses of the eyepiece*. As the larger, elliptical shape gradually emerged, it offered a richer view of the galaxy's overall form. It appeared to be elongated at a PA of 165° and was about 6 x 2 arc minutes in size. The bright core had a steep drop in brightness along its west side. The contour of this luminosity decrease appeared to curve just west of the midline and extend toward the tips of the ellipse. On the other side of this contour, a softer glow extended further westward to fill out the elliptical shape. The core itself had a mild plateau in brightness and it's heart was stellar in appearance. To direct vision and to mildly averted vision, the bright, elliptical region surrounding the core was the only part visible. With more extreme averted vision however, the outer rim of the galaxy simply blossomed into view. It really is a magnificent sight--if you enjoy averted vision delicacies.

I was not able to extract further detail, or pick up any of the nearby 'fleas', but I was very pleased by the overall appearance that the galaxy offered--something like a much smaller M31. My daughter spent some time with me during the observation, talking about a new gobbledygook code language she's inventing, and about a friend at school who is really getting interested in astronomy. Reminds me that I need to schedule time to visit the kids' classes this year and do an astro presentation & hopefully daytime moon viewing.

*Can you tell I love this eyepiece? I don't consider myself an equipment junkie, but this really is a fantastic observing tool.

Object Information:

NGC 7331 is the brightest member of the NGC 7331 galaxy group, also known as the Deer Lick Group. It was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1784. It is also cataloged as: UGC 12113, MCG+06-49-045, H I-53, h 2172, GC 4815, CGCG 514.068, PGC 69327

Subject	NGC 7331
Classification*	Galaxy (Sb I-II)
Position*	Pegasus [RA: 22:37:04.5 / Dec: +34:25:01]
Size*	10.5' x 3.7' (PA 171°)
Brightness*	9.7 vMag (10.3 bMag)
Date/Time	NOV 30 2008 - 08:30 MST (DEC 1, 2008 - 03:30 UT)
Observing Loc.	Flagstaff, Arizona, USA - Home
Instrument	Orion SkyQuest XT8 (203 mm dia./1200 mm F/L)
Eyepieces/Mag.	Pentax XW 10 (120X)
Conditions	Clear, calm, cold
Seeing	5/10 Pickering
Transparency	~ Mag 6.0 NELM
*References	NGCIC.org

Tonight's conjunction was a beautiful sight in the dwindling twilight. McMillan Mesa provided a wide open view of the western horizon as the lunar-planetary trio sunk lower. Thin cirrus, and a fresh contrail added color and interesting geometry to an already stunning scene. To cope with the wide dynamic range of the sunset and brilliant crescent moon, I combined two overlapping exposures in the shot above: 1 shot at 1/50 sec to capture the crescent moon, and another shot at 2 seconds to capture everything else. (Canon EOS 300D, ISO 800, f/5.6, 25 mm.)

Below is another photo I shot earlier after walking out of the office for the day. The conjunction was already putting on a spectacular display.

The following two photos were shot the previous day, November 30, 2008, from my front yard.

What an awesome display!

Improving your observing

This one intent alone makes sketching an incredibly beneficial process. It's why I got started, and it's still a key reason I do it today. The great thing about this one goal is that your sketches don't need to look gorgeous, your stars can look like boomerangs, your sketch circle can be shaped like a broken egg, and you can have smears all over it and still get the full benefit of becoming a better observer. I've got a bunch of earlier drawings that look like this, and I'm not embarrassed about their quality. They fulfilled their purpose. You can see several of them in my Messier gallery. However, using sketching as an observing tool is just one reason why somebody may choose to draw an object; and these other intents are where the variety of sketching styles begin to blossom.

Providing a personal record

I'm pretty sure that most observers who sketch to improve their observing end up filing those drawings away to browse another day. It can be really enjoyable to look back on old observations and relive the moment--to be reminded of what made that observation unique or interesting. Since you are the only one who looks at these records, there is no need to refine them. However, some may decide that they want to work on their technique so that the record evokes the observation more accurately. Here is where a whole spectrum of possibilities open up...but no one else has to know how you render them, unless you dabble in some of these other goals...

Comparing observing details with others

An eyepiece drawing can be a great way to describe an object and discuss the details with others. Since this is a practical consideration, there's really no need for the drawing to be 'attractive'. However, putting a bit more care into the craftsmanship of the sketch does help convey the information more accurately to your audience. You may take more care that the stars are round, that brighter stars are bigger, that you carefully describe extended objects or unresolved stars with shading or contour lines.

Conveying the appearance of the eyepiece view

Conveying the distinct attributes of an object begs for attention to detail. However, if you want to try and show how it actually looked to you through the eyepiece, you are presented with a variety of challenges. Do you convey the image in negative or positive format? If you go with the positive view, how do you convey a black sky with white stars? How do you convey that amazing contrast between a very bright star and the fainter stars in which it swims? How do you deal with the grainy mist of a globular cluster? What about any color you see? Can you convey a very faint object in a way that your audience can appreciate how difficult it was and still actually see it?

Anyone who wants to convey their observation this way is going to have to make choices about these and other questions. Some choices will be based on a personal preference, others will be decided by what that person feels capable of doing. Some may feel that since it isn't possible to truly evoke the eyepiece view, there's no point in trying to go there. That's a respectable approach--but it's not the only one. One thing is for sure, if you choose to share this view with others, some people are going to like it, and some people aren't. Some might even downright disapprove of the choices you've made. There's really nothing you can do about that. If somebody's opinion can help you improve, great! If it's not helpful, or simply has no application to your style of illustration, you just have to do your best to let it roll off.

Artistic inspiration and expression

I think for many of us, viewing pieces of the universe through the eyepiece, or an assisted video device, or just the naked eye, is a moving experience. So, it makes sense to me that the artistically inclined would at times try to express those experiences in a way that goes beyond a technical drawing. I think an encyclopedia's worth of information would be needed to cover all the angles and interpretations of a topic like this. I will say that I think there is a continuum that runs from the driest technical drawings all the way to the most embellished works of art. At some point, to a majority of people, the image will no longer be considered an observational drawing or illustration, but there is no way that I would feel qualified to drop a boundary in the 'correct' spot somewhere in the muddy part of that spectrum.

Bill Ferris brought up the topic about Realism and Impressionism over three years ago. I think it's a great point to make. Even if someone tries to be extremely technical with a drawing, there are still liberties that are taken--such as making bright stars bolder, or trying to shade an extended object whose range of brightness in the eyepiece has no hope of being portrayed the same way on a sheet of paper.

Other intents?

I'm sure there are other reasons people spend time sketching what they see out there. Do you have any that I haven't attempted to cover above?

Sketching Methods

The methods you use to produce a sketch are going to depend on your personal tastes and your goals, and if you're showing it to others: who your audience is.

Some key methods I've observed are:

• Generating the complete hand drawn sketch in the field with no post-edits
• Producing a rough sketch in the field and re-drawing a refined version later
• Creating a hand drawn sketch, scanning it, and then using digital tools to clean it up, add color and so on.
• Creating a rough sketch in the field, and then re-creating it completely with digital tools later
• Using video assisted viewing to create a sketch in any of those ways
• Sketching onto a pre-printed star field so the observer can concentrate on an extended object rather than the star field

Some observers point out that an un-edited, un-refined field drawing is the only one that could truly be called a 'sketch'. Sometimes I like hard labels, and sometimes I don't. I'm somewhat torn by this one. I think there's a good argument to be made that an unmodified drawing created in the field is what a 'sketch' really is. Cleaned up, redrawn observations might be better called 'illustrations'. The problem is that in amateur astronomy, the term illustration (in my mind) carries the baggage of sounding 'conceptual' in nature and might lead to the impression that the image is not the result of a specific, detailed observation. That's a tough one.

Regarding the use of a pre-printed star field, I know I've benefited from this technique on several occasions when sketching comets. When a comet is a twilight-scraper, it can really aid the amount of time you spend actually observing the comet before it disappears, rather than plotting field stars. Others have found the technique useful for any number of objects, when time under a dark sky is rare and precious. I think it's great. Others wouldn't touch that method with a ten foot pole. Whenever I prepare a sketch this way, I make sure to note that the star field comes from another source.

Is it appropriate to call one who sketches an 'Artist'?

As far as the occasional flinching that occurs when the word 'artist' is used, I think a lot boils down to how someone defines 'art', 'artist', or 'artistic'.

A couple reason's come to mind that an astronomical sketcher might not care for that label. One is that many people (in my experience) associate 'artist' or 'artistic' with something that is almost painfully out of their league, and using those terms can shut them down before they give it a try. The other reason is that I think many would rather their drawings be considered on practical merit rather than artistic. I think it all comes down to how people define 'artist' and 'artistic', and some of those definitions, bring up things they don't like. That's a very difficult barrier to negotiate, particularly if you have a broader view of the words than someone else does. Personally, I try to avoid that by using other terms like 'technique' and 'craftsmanship' and the slightly edgy 'aesthetic' (when describing the beauty perceived through the eyepiece and the efforts an observer might make to recreate that).

However, although I typically avoid actually saying it, I do believe their is an 'art' to sketching just as I think there's an art to having a conversation or drinking a cold beverage without the ice sloshing all over my face*. But that's because I'm referring to a usage I've grown up with:

art (n) - 1. skill acquired by experience, study, or observation (the art of making friends). 2a. a branch of learning. 3. an occupation requiring knowledge or skill (the art of organ building).

The word 'skill' might even raise some alarms, but there's even a tiny bit of skill involved in picking up a pencil or pen and not stabbing the other hand with it. I think that many amateur astronomers who enjoy sketching end up refining their skill by experience, study and observation at some level.

Still, when the word art is used, I think that many tend to think of this definition

- produced as an artistic effort or for decorative purposes (an art film) (art dolls) (art music).

That's the baggage I believe many astronomical sketchers react to when 'art' is used to describe their work. So personally, I try to be careful with the term. :-)

*Not saying I've mastered any of those.

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 here and there. I used to paint with watercolor, but the thought of doing night-sky paintings with that medium sounded too much like hard work to me. I've never taken the time to practice and learn oil or acrylic painting until now. So I started doing some research and last month I picked up some tubes of acrylic paint, a couple brushes I could dedicate to it, some priming gesso, and some parchment paper & tupperware containers to make stay-wet palettes. Then last week, I picked up a few 12" x 16" pre-primed canvas boards (not framed canvas--yet).

Saturday night, I went to work on a painting of Orion, the Hyades, and the Winter Milky Way rising at Cinder Hills Overlook. It's based on a photo I shot from that spot about three years ago. I had re-worked that photo earlier last week too, and was feeling a groove getting started. Wow it felt great to whisk paint across that canvas. I was curious to see how well I could balance keeping the field 'loose' while still portraying a reasonably faithful star field.

So, for my first canvas acrylic astro painting, I learned a few things right away. Here is what I did, and what I figured out along the way.

1. I'm going to have to learn to put away feelings of stinginess with the paint when applying the background for the sky. When I laid down my first layer, I thought I could progressively dilute a modest amount of paint with water as I went down the canvas, in an attempt to create a skyglow gradient. That went horribly :) So I let that splotchy mess dry, and came back in with another layer. This time I gooshed out a nice pile of Ivory Black and Phthalo Blue, mixed it up for maximum creaminess, and then gradually added white as I went down. This time the paint went on wonderfully...I think 'delicious' is a word I could use to describe the feeling of brushing it on and watching the gradient and brush strokes take shape.
2. Then, using the same level of lightness as the skyglow at the bottom of the painting, I loosely brushed in the clumpy haze of the Milky Way. I really had the urge to incorporate the patches of dark nebulosity in all the right places. However, I quickly realized that if I tried to do that, the Milky Way would look stiff and overly-artificial. So I kept it loose and impressionistic.
3. While that base layer dried, I used a small round brush, and a mix of paint slightly lighter than the Milky way to dab in the framework stars. I referred to the photo as it was displayed on my computer screen to position the stars. I used basically the same process I do when sketching: comparing angles, distances and magnitudes. I didn't get crazy with making this absolutely precise. I wanted it to be faithful to this swath of sky, without becoming a technical reproduction.
4. Then came the scary part. Sprinkling in the explosion of faint field stars that help make dark sky views so captivating. I found an old-style toothbrush (not one of the new-fangled ones with the big rod of bristles at the tip). Then I loaded it with white paint and practiced using a palette knife to sprinkle it on some newspaper. I messed with the consistency a bit and then I went for it on the actual painting. This was just a little bit stressful. Toothbrush sprinkling is not meant for the control freak. But I know it can be guided. I think I did fairly well increasing the density of the spray across the Milky Way portion, but I unintentionally put a heavier density across the center and upper right portion. Oh well. I did notice that pure white was not the best choice for these field stars. It's too overwhelming. Next time, I'll use a medium gray or blue.
5. Next I went in and brightened up the key stars I had hinted in earlier. Adding the orange stars really did it for me and I felt it conveyed the scene the way I had hoped. I 'haloed' the brightest stars with medium blue and medium orange, and then plotted varying sizes of white in the center to hopefully convey both brilliance and color at the same time. I do need to pay attention to where I'm going to add my foreground so that I can subdue the brightness of the stars closer to the horizon. The stars in the painting are too crisp and bright that far down.
6. Last to be added was the foreground. And here is where I fell down: Trees. I thought the two trees I wanted to add would be simple. But I couldn't get the paint consistency and brush behavior to do what I wanted. The branches kept coming out too thick and fake looking. So I ended up adding much more foliage to them than I wanted, just so I could hide the stupid branches. I definitely need to practice with trunk, branch & foliage painting so I can get a feel for it. I also think that using a palette knife or a rubber color-pusher on the branches might give me more delicate, angular lines. I also just need to study Ponderosa, Piñon, and Juniper pines like I would one of my deep sky observations so I can learn their peculiarities.
7. Oh man. Then there's the border taping fiasco. I always liked the look of a white margin around my watercolor paintings after lifting the tape from their edges. So I had applied watercolor tape to the edges of the canvas board to get the same effect. HUGE mistake. The moistened glue interacted with the pre-primed surface and cemented the tape in place. I had to put a lot of effort into wedging a wetted paintbrush beneath the edges of the tape and gradually peeling it away and then using an Xacto knife and water to lift away the stubborn bits. Never again.
8. Oh yeah. I'm not used to signing my name with acrylic and a paint brush. So, kind of a little grade school touch there.

So that's it for my first astro painting. I hope to apply my observing experiences do more of them as I get the chance. Below is the photo on which I based the painting:

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 arc minutes in diameter. Mirach's blazing orange light exploded with a glow about three times the apparent diameter of the galaxy.

This was first light for the Pentax XW 10 eyepiece I received last Thursday. The view was fantastic, even with poor seeing. Diffraction patterns were beautiful to observe, and contrast was excellent. Even with Mirach in the field, NGC 404 was not a challenge to see at both 120X and 240X (with the barlow).

Object Information:

NGC 404 was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1784. It is also cataloged as: UGC 718, MCG+06-03-018, PGC 4126, H II-224, h 89, GC 218, CGCG 520.020, LGG 011-009

Subject	NGC 404
Classification*	Galaxy (SA(s)0)
Position*	Andromeda [RA: 01:09:26.9 / Dec: +35:43:04]
Size*	3.5' x 3.5'
Brightness*	10.2 vMag (11.2 bMag)
Date/Time	NOV 24, 2008 - 01:00 AM MST (NOV 24, 2008 - 8:00 UT)
Observing Loc.	Flagstaff, Arizona, USA - Home
Instrument	Orion SkyQuest XT8 (203 mm dia./1200 mm F/L)
Eyepieces/Mag.	Pentax XW 10 + 2X Barlow (240X)
Conditions	Clear, calm, cold
Seeing	3/10 Pickering
Transparency	~ Mag 5.8 NELM
*References	NGCIC.org

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 dome. I wasn't able to determine the identity of the dome or its contents online.

I contacted Brian Skiff last week, and he pointed me to an article in the March 1985 Sky and Telescope by Art Hoag. The article "An Astrometric Lens Caper" details how the dome came to house an 18" astrograph. The f/8, 5-element aerial camera lens was made by Perkin Elmer in the late 1950s. It was later acquired through government surplus by a priest in Wisconsin. While searching for an astrograph lens candidate, Art Hoag tracked it down via an ad placed in Sky and Telescope. He and Robert Millis drove a small pickup truck on a 4000 mile trip to pick it up and put it to use plotting occultation paths for asteroids. The astrograph is still used by the observatory to create precise star catalogues that are used to identify occultation candidates in the hunt for Kuiper Belt Objects.

Brian notes that prior to the astrograph's installation, the dome housed a 20-inch triplet refractor in the 1960s. The astrograph is now installed on the 20-inch refractor's pier.

Three years ago, I shot some photos while observing at Anderson Mesa. The reprocessed photos below shows the Hall 1.1 meter Ritchey-Chretien Dome. A bit of the Perkins dome can be seen to the right. The original processed version of that photo was very noisy and it only held up at a smaller size. The stars also had poor differentiation in magnitude and I can't stand greenish-yellow sky color. This still isn't a masterpiece, but it's giving me some ideas for future shots. The shot is a single (unstacked) 30 second exposure at f/3.5, ISO 1600 with my Canon EOS 300D.

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 240X, so I kept it to 120X. Averted vision revealed a thick, subtle annular shape. The southwest edge was brighter and the northeast edge seemed to have two brighter knots. The northwest side appeared somewhat flattened. I saw no evidence of a central star.

Object Information:

NGC 1501 was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1787. The planetary lies roughly 5000 light years away and is about 1.4 light years in diameter. It possesses a 14.5 magnitude Wolfe-Rayet star at its heart. It is also cataloged as: PK144+6.1, H IV-53, GC 801, PN G144.5+06.5

Subject	NGC 1501
Classification*	Planetary Nebula (3)
Position*	Camelopardalis [RA: 04:06:59.41 / Dec: +60:55:14.5]
Size*	56" x 48"
Brightness*	11.5 vMag (13.3 bMag)
Date/Time	OCT 30, 2008 - 12:10 AM MST (OCT 30, 2008 - 7:10 UT)
Observing Loc.	Flagstaff, Arizona, USA - Home
Instrument	Orion SkyQuest XT8 (203 mm dia./1200 mm F/L)
Eyepieces/Mag.	10 mm Sirius Plössl (120X)
Conditions	Clear, calm
Seeing	5/10 Pickering
Transparency	~ Mag 6.5 NELM
*References	NGCIC.org, Deep Sky Companions: Hidden Treasures, S. J. O'Meara

Observation Notes:

The 'Blue Snowball' nebula didn't disappoint, and shone with a subtle cyan-green color when I aimed the Dob at it. It was elongated roughly north-south and had an uneven appearance. The main shell was shaped like a soft, round-edged pentagon. The east side was brightest, while the northwest side opened up to allow a darker intrusion into the nebula's core. This brighter shell appeared to be surrounded by a slim, subtle halo. Although I could not see the central star, another neighboring star paired itself with the snowball, about 1 arc minute to the northeast. The nebula itself appeared to be about 30 arc seconds in diameter.

Object Information:

NGC 7662 was discovered by Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel in 1784. It is also cataloged as: PK106-17.1, H IV-18, h 2241, GC 4964, PN G106.5-17.6

Subject	NGC 7662
Classification*	Planetary Nebula (4(3))
Position*	Andromeda [RA: 23:25:53.93 / Dec: +42:32:06.1]
Size*	32" x 28"
Brightness*	8.3 vMag (9.2 bMag)
Date/Time	OCT 29, 2008 - 10:30 PM MST (OCT 30, 2008 - 5:30 UT)
Observing Loc.	Flagstaff, Arizona, USA - Home
Instrument	Orion SkyQuest XT8 (203 mm dia./1200 mm F/L)
Eyepieces/Mag.	10 mm Sirius Plössl (120X) + 2X Barlow (240X)
Conditions	Clear, calm
Seeing	5/10 Pickering
Transparency	~ Mag 6.5 NELM
*References	NGCIC.org

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 making its way through Lynx at a very leisurely pace as it prepares to reverse course on November 15th and retrograde its way toward Auriga. So the next couple weeks are when it will be at its brightest. The Aerith.net site estimates a magnitude of 10.8, and it may brighten another couple-tenths of a magnitude over the next few days.

When I spotted it on the night of October 29th, it was a couple arc minutes north of a small triangle of 11th magnitude stars. At first glance, it appeared to have a stellar core and to be rather elongated. A closer examination showed that the comet was hovering next to a 12.7 magnitude USNO star. The presence of that star made it difficult to examine the extent of the coma, but I estimated a diameter of 1 arc minute comparing to the triangle asterism. It had a softly condensed core, and I couldn't verify any elongation. I checked on its position 3 hours later and noted it had moved eastward, but by a very small amount--perhaps 30 arc seconds or so.

I checked back in with the comet the following night and its new position was much easier to mark. It was still well within the boundaries of my original sketch field stop and appeared to have moved about 5-6 arc minutes to the east-northeast at a PA of about 70 degrees. Starry Night Pro showed a movement of 7.25 arc minutes at a PA of 63 degrees. This time it wasn't conjoined with a nearby star and I was able to estimate its appearance a little better. It appeared to be slightly elongated to the west with a size of about 1.5 x 2 arc minutes. The core still appeared to be softly concentrated.

Subject	C/2006 OF2 (Broughton)
Classification	Comet
Position*	OCT 30 04:45 UT - Lynx: [RA: 06:40:05.6 / Dec: +60:39:54] OCT 31 06:00 UT - Lynx: [RA: 06:40:58.1 / Dec: +60:43:11]
Size	Coma: 1.5 x 2 arc minute diameter
Brightness*	~ 10.8 vMag
Date/Time	OCT 29, 2008, 9:45 - OCT 30, 2008, 11:00 PM MST (OCT 30, 2008, 04:45 - OCT 31, 2008, 06:00 UT)
Observing Loc.	Flagstaff, AZ - Home
Instrument	Orion SkyQuest XT8 Dobsonian
Eyepieces/Mag.	10 mm Sirius Plossl (120X)
Conditions	Clear, calm
Seeing	5/10 Pickering
Transparency	~Mag 6.5 NELM
*Sources	Aerith.net; Starry Night Pro Plus 5.8

Observation Notes:

Comet 2006 W3 was discovered on November 18, 2006 by E. J. Christensen with the Catalina Sky Survey. It has been corkscrewing its way along the northern Milky Way since then, heading for a summer 2009 maximum that might bring it up to 8th magnitude.

When I observed it this evening, It was a fairly easy catch in Cepheus. At low power, it appeared as a slightly out of focus star. Averted vision really helped pop the coma into visibility, and it looked much better at higher power (120X). Its brightness profile faded very quickly away from its stellar core. I estimated the visual extent of the coma to be 1 arc minute in diameter. Over the course of 2 hours, I estimated it moved about 3 arc minutes to the southwest at a PA of 230 degrees. Checking Starry Night Pro later revealed a movement of 2.5 arc minutes at 224 degrees PA during that time frame. The Aerith.net site estimates a magnitude of 10.3.

A nice double star marked one end of a line of stars near the comet. There was just a hint of color in the double with a pale yellow primary and dull gray-red secondary. The double appeared to have a PA of about 250 degrees and a separation of 10-15 arc seconds. I didn't bring out the astrometric eyepiece for this one. Measuring the separation of the two stars in Starry Night Pro yielded a measurement of 248 degrees and 17 arc seconds. I was not able to find the pair listed in the Vizier databases or in SIMBAD. It seems notable enough that it should be listed somewhere. The two stars are listed in the Tycho catalog as TYC 4485-536-1 and TYC 4485-832-1.

Subject	C/2006 W3 (Christensen)
Classification	Comet
Position*	03:25 UT - Cepheus: [RA: 23:05:04.1 / Dec: +72:16:53] 05:32 UT - Cepheus: [RA: 23:04:59.1 / +72:15:04 Dec: ]
Size	Coma: 1 arc minute diameter
Brightness*	~ 10.3 vMag
Date/Time	OCT 25, 2008, 8:25 - 10:32 PM MST (OCT 26, 2008, 03:25 - 05:32 UT)
Observing Loc.	Flagstaff, AZ - Klaus Brasch Observatory
Instrument	Orion SkyQuest XT8 Dobsonian
Eyepieces/Mag.	10 mm Sirius Plossl (120X)
Conditions	Clear, slight breeze, cold
Seeing	5/10 Pickering
Transparency	~Mag 7.0 NELM
*Sources	Aerith.net; Starry Night Pro Plus 5.8