Sketch of Messier 13 and 92 01 June 22

Hello everyone,

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

Last night Paul and I observed and sketched several objects from the Sugarloaf Car Park. It was a glorious night with seeing conditions particulary good. Shortly after 10PM ISM we took in the slim cresent Moon low in the West. What made it particularly nice was the 'earthshine' - very nice indeed.

With my new 2 inch 17mm eyepiece, which provides 70° AFOV, I sketched M13 and M92 in Hercules. While they're far from perfect it was my first attempt to give 'Globs' a go. Consequnelty, I found them more difficult to sketch than either Open Clusters or the Moon. One of the most challenging parts of sketching the Globular Clusters was capturing the the number and size of the resolved stars accurately. For example, each time I looked through the eyepiece there seemed to be more stars!

For this reason, I'm going to sketch these globular clusters again; therefore last night's illustration will be used as a benchmark to compare future sketches of M13 and M92 against. What is more,  Paul made some very useful suggestions such as the type of pencil to use, so I'll try using a different pencil next time round. Taken together, I antipicate the next submission will be better - so watch this space : )

In addition, to observing M13 and M92, I observed M4, M56, M57, M81 and M82. M4 and M56 were new observations, so thanks for the suggestions Paul!

M57 showed some colour to it - that was a real treat, but seeing the Double Cluster through the new eyepiece was the real showstopper of the night. 

We finished up shortly after 1am ISM as it was getting pretty cold. Overall, it was a real enjoyable night under the stars, so thanks for the company last night Paul.

Clear skies,

Darren.


 

Hello Darren. 
I'm greatly admiring these 2 sketches. 
They seem very good to me. 
Maybe you could make them little bit bigger next time. 

It was very kind of Paul to show up with you at the Sugarloaf. 
Was it just the 2 of you?

When Valerie and I were nearly home Valerie said she could see the 2 day old Moon. 
It was very beautiful.  

I have observed M4 and M56 fairly recently. 
M 56 is very difficult to see at low magnification. 
But it is relatively easy to starhop to. 
I find this globular cluster becomes delightful at higher mags. 
M 4 has many super dark lanes in amongst its stars.  

Thank you for your super report, Darren.

Clear skies from Aubrey. 

Hi Aubrey,

Very many thanks for you kind words. Yep, it was just the two of us last night. In saying that, some guy arrived on a Motorbike around Midnight and seemed to be doing some photography on the other side of the car park, but we kept to ourselves.

I managed to find M4 and M56 with relative ease thanks to Paul. I was quite smitten with M4. Like many others here I guess that Scorpius can only be observed away from the backgarden, so it was great to observe this Globular Cluster at the Sugarloaf last night. I stuck with the 17mm last night as I found 74X a nice magnification, but I must revisit M56 at a higher magnifiaction - thanks for the tip!

Also, It was great to read that you and Valerie saw the Moon last night as it was a sight to behold.

Clear skies,

Darren.

Very good Darren. Back in 1974 the Arecibo radio scope sent an 'intelligent' message to M13, so still another 25,000 years before it gets there.... 

Did you see any of the 'new' meteors btw?

Finbarr.

Hi Finbarr, 

I hope all is well. 
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Very many thanks for your message, and informing me about the radio message as that was news to me. 

In terms of meteors, I didn't see one

Clear skies, 
Darren. 
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