Sketch of M81 & M82 - 19 March 2021

Hi everyone,

I hope you and those close to you are keeping well.

As some of you might recall I went looking for M81 and M82 last Tuesday night, but couldn't locate them. So, I decided to give them another go last night. Thankfully, within five minutes I had both galaxies in my 2" 30mm eyepiece. I managed to locate both galaxies by going a bit further out than I originally thought. Meaning, when I star-hopped from Merak, through to Dubhe and then out towards 38 Ursae Majoris, I was not going far enough North for my final star-hop last Tuesday.  It wasn't until I was in the region of 24 Ursae Majoris that I found M81 and 82 last night. Needless to say I was thrilled to see these faint fuzzies in the eyepiece.

I found Bode's galaxy to be notably brighter than the Cigar Galaxy. This was most obvious at the core of M81. With averted vision I could make out the lighter region that surrounds the core of M81 too, but I could not see any of its spiral arms. In comparison M82 showed a more defined structure, albeit a narrower one. I thought there was a certain bulge to the galaxy, and that the Northern end of the galaxy was slightly longer than the Southern end.

For the sketch I used a 25mm Plossl eyepiece because it provided me with a 1.04 TFOV. Meaning, I could frame both galaxies in the one sketch. In saying that, I did spend some of my time observing each galaxy at 139X. At this magnification I noticed that HIP 48635 was a double star very close to Bode's Galaxy, and I have subsequently discovered that HIP 48639, which is next to HIP 48635, is a double star too. I started the sketch at 22:21, and finished it by 22:45UT. At 22:34UT a satellite flew across the eyepiece.

Other details from the session include:

Instrument f/5 250mm Newtonian Reflector on a Dobsonian Base.
Location Dundrum, Dublin 16 (Bortle 7/
Seeing: 6
Transparency: 5
Materials used: B, 2B pencils, Blending stump and sketching pad. The image was scanned and inverted in GIMP. I also played around with the exposure settings, and digitised the stars to provide a better contrast.

Many thanks for taking a look, and as this is my first attempt at sketching a galaxy, I am welcoming all forms of critique.

Clear skies to all,

Darren.
 
 

Hello, Darren. 

I am so thrilled you have found those 2 delightful galaxies in the same fov. 
Huge congratulations to you for providing us all with your brand new combined sketch of M81 and M82. 

I used to have an 8.75" Newtonian and I was extremely privileged to view them both at the same time. 
We're talking early 2000s here.
As your sketch is coming straight for a 10" Dobsonian, both galaxies are in the exact same position as they appeared in my former Newtonian. 
Therefore you are bringing back very fond memories to me personally.  

Let's see now about those 2 double stars. 
HIP 48635 would be more well known as STF 1387. 
HIP 48639 is called STF 1386. 
You can discover them both on www.stelledoppie.it . 
I know those HIP designations are probably on your astronomy program. 
It's just that double star enthusiasts would prefer to see Struve designations instead. 
Both these double stars are true binaries by the way. 
So big congratulations to you for successfully splitting them. 
You are one up on me. Or should I say 2 up?    

Clear skies from Aubrey. 

Hi Aubrey,

Very many thanks for your message, and I was delighted to read that the sketch helped to bring back fond memories for you. 

The two of them in the same eyepiece is a real sight alright. The next time we are back at the Sugar Loaf I'm going to give them another go. I'd imagine they will look spectacular under Wicklow's dark sky.

Also, many thanks for letting me know about how double star enthusiasts record HIP designations. From this point on I'll use STF instead. On that, I only managed to split one of them last night. Sure I can give the other one a go when I revisit them again.

Clear skies,

Darren.

Nice sketch, Darren.  Have you tried inverting the image to enhance the details, make the galaxies stand out?

Paul

Hello once again, Darren. 

Thank you for your very kind comments. 
I remember trying to split those 2 doubles at the time I was hugely admiring M81 and M82. 
And my old scope just wouldn't separate them. 

By the way, at the time I was observing in this area a friend of mine had introduced me to Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4.
Its nickname is the Romantic symphony. 
It was the perfect backdrop while I was observing these 2 super galaxies in Ursa Major. 

Now when are we going to have clear skies again? 

Very best regards from Aubrey. 

 

Hi Paul and Aubrey,

Very many thanks for your messages. Funny you mention about adjusting the image Paul, some of the really good sketchers on Cloudynights.com said something similar, and one of the moderators very kindly made the adjustment for me. I'll try to post the amended version here. 

Aubrey, that sounds like a lovely idea of listening to some classical music while observing. I must give that a go next night I'm out...Will that be tonight? Looks promising out there at the moment. And if you do revisit those doubles I'd love to hear what you think of them. 

Clear skies, 

Darren.