4 NGC galaxies in/around UMa (3 sketched)

Great sketches. I can only imagine what they looked like in the scope.

it feels like you are actually looking at them yourself!


That's exactly what i thought.

NGC 2683....................STUNNING.

Can i ask a question about the sketches people make?

They all look like they were sketched by the same person..............so i am assuming there is some software program available that digitally enhances the sketches you do?

Very nice Jeff, they are very representative of the visual view.

Keith --

You'll have to drop by sometime and have a look through it. (Although I'm about to do an instrument swap -- APM just finished my 16" Mak-Cass which will replace the Meade OTA in the next few weeks.)

Paul --

There's not much done to digitally enhance it. I adjust the contrast a bit and blur the image once or twice, but those are mostly to get rid of the artifacts that the scanner adds. I then invert it (the original is done in pencil on white paper), but that's about it.

If you look at the sketching forum on CloudyNights you'll see that there are sort of "schools" of sketching. Mine look similar to a group of them, but there are other groups who go for a quite different look-and-feel.

-- Jeff.

If you look at the sketching forum on CloudyNights you'll see that there are sort of "schools" of sketching.

Thats kinda what i meant when i said most of the sketches i see look like they are done by the same person. I was thinking it is either a "school" taught method or a imaging program.

I'll be hbonest i usually dont pay mush attention to sketches BUT these ones caught my eye.

As stated above they look as if you are observing them yourself.

Fantastic work.

I cant even draw a straight line with a ruler.

Thanks, Dave.

Do you get similar views through the 20" at a dark site, or does it go a noticable bit deeper?

My guess is 16" and 20" would give pretty similar views under the same skies, but since your Dob is portable I imagine under Cavan or West Cork skies it would deliver considerably more punch. I'd love to have more aperture, but I'm just not sure I'd be willing to set it up often enough to make it worthwhile. (The observatory is just too easy.)

-- Jeff.

Thats kinda what i meant when i said most of the sketches i see look like they are done by the same person. I was thinking it is either a "school" taught method or a imaging program.

While I haven't read any books on sketching (although I do have one on order) or taken any classes, I imagine those attempting to duplicate the view through the eyepiece all end up with similar techniques -- simply because they're what works.

Others go for an artistic presentation, or accuracy of what's out there (as opposed to the view through the telescope). For instance, I was involved in a discussion on whether one ought to render glare or not (I do, as I try to portray exactly what I see; others prefer a more purist approach without rendering any optical defects).

As stated above they look as if you are observing them yourself.

As one from the "accurate representation of what one might see" school of sketching, that's music to my ears!

Cheers,
-- Jeff.