The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage.
/ Mark Russell /



My astronomy sketches. IE users, hoover mouse over image for the inverted look. For fainter objects, take a look at the black-on-white original, sometimes it reveals more details.


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By type: open clusters [30] globular clusters [13] diffuse nebulae [1] dark nebulae [0] planetary nebulae [14] variable stars [1] binary stars [9] asterisms [2] galaxies [37] quasars [0] planets [2] minor planets [0] comets [0] Sun [0] Moon [3] other objects [1]
By catalogue: Messier 1-50 [12] Messier 51-110 [11] NGC 1-1000 [3] NGC 1001-2000 [11] NGC 2001-3000 [14] NGC 3001-4000 [8] NGC 4001-5000 [8] NGC 5001-6000 [9] NGC 6001-7000 [19] NGC 7001-7840 [15] IC 1-5386 [0] other catalogues [20] uncataloged [7]
By constellation:



M52 + OCL261 (Open cluster)
Also known as: NGC 7654 + Czernik 43 (Cz 43)
Right ascension: 23h 24m Declination: 61° 35'
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Date/time: 2008.01.24 18:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 40' Magnification and filter(s): 71x
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 3/5

These two star clusters can be found easily nearby the constellation Cassiopeia. The Messier object M52 is a quite large open cluster with clearly identifiable boundaries and has a diameter of at least 20'. Its image is determined by a very bright star, however the cluster itself looks quite rich, even though the brightness of other stars is not even close to their brightest companion. To the east from M52, behind a wall of shiny stars lies the open cluster OCL261 (also known as Czernik 43), populated with a dozen dim stars.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 7026 (Planetary nebula)
Also known as: The Cheeseburger nebula
Right ascension: 21h 5m Declination: 47° 39'
Constellation: Cygnus
Date/time: 2008.09.03 00:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 16' Magnification and filter(s): 250x
Seeing: 6/10 Transparency: 4/5

I find this object much smaller (around 0.3x0.4') than what is suggested by the values in catalogues (0.8x0.8'). It's a fairly blue, very bright planetary with a shape resembles a diamond, divided in N-S direction by a dark belt of matter in the middle. Its name is very felicitous when taking a look at its entire shape: Cheeseburger nebula. I can detect an additional faint nub on the NW part of the object. Requires large magnification and a very calm atmosphere.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 7027 (Planetary nebula)
Also known as: Magic carpet nebula
Right ascension: 21h 7m Declination: 42° 14'
Constellation: Cygnus
Date/time: 2008.09.04 23:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 16' Magnification and filter(s): 250x
Seeing: 6/10 Transparency: 4/5

Also known as the Magic carpet nebula, this planetary is quite large, with a shape that fits its name well. The surface brightness varies widely, with a brighter larger part to the NW, and a smaller bright portion to the SE, divided by a fainter part. Its colour is remarkably blue, the dark parts are very spectacular with their deep shade of blue.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 7008 (Planetary nebula)
Also known as: Fetus nebula
Right ascension: 21h 1m Declination: 54° 33'
Constellation: Cygnus
Date/time: 2008.09.02 23:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 12' Magnification and filter(s): 250x
Seeing: 6/10 Transparency: 4/5

A very large planetary nebula in the Cygnus constellation, also known as the Fetus nebula. Its naming perfectly suits its look, which is very conspicious. Its an asymetrical shell with widely varying brightness and an enormously shiny area to the NE. The central star is a 13.2 magnitude one, easily detectable because its surrounding dark areas. To the East from this you may notice another star of the similar colour and luminosity. I cannot see any hint of colour throughout the planetary. It's a nice object even at low powers of around 100x thanks to its relatively high surface brightness, therefore it may be a reachable target for small telescopes too. I've tried using my UHC filter, but the results were worse than without it.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]
This sketch was featured on Astronomy Sketch of the Day on Oct 4, 2008.

NGC 7209 (Open cluster)
Right ascension: 22h 5m Declination: 46° 30'
Constellation: Lacerta
Date/time: 2008.09.05 00:30 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 43' Magnification and filter(s): 45x
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 4/5

Huge, sparse open cluster, with a background of the sparkling of the faint stars of the Milkyway. Bordered from the North by the 6.2mag star SAO 51632, which makes it easier to find the cluster. It consists around two dozens of bright stars of nearly the same luminosity (between 10 and 11 magnitudes) and colour. For me its most spectacular feature is the shape of a mirrored S North from its centre. Requires little magnification and a very wide field of vision.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 7217 (Galaxy)
Right ascension: 22h 7m Declination: 31° 21'
Constellation: Pegasus
Date/time: 2008.10.01 23:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 23' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 6/10 Transparency: 4/5

Faint galaxy that looks pretty small, it only gets brighter near its tiny core, but that core is very bright compared to the rest of the body of the galaxy. The 11.1m luminosity that is stated in catalogues I find exaggerated. Its core resembles a blurred star, and according to my estimation, has a brightness of about 13.6m, while the average surface brightness of the galaxy I estimate at 14.1 magnitudes. Its shape is slightly elongated ellipse in the SW-NE directions, with a visible size of 2' x 2'10".

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 7332 + NGC 7339 (Galaxy)
Right ascension: 22h 37m Declination: 23° 48'
Constellation: Pegasus
Date/time: 2008.10.01 23:45 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 18' Magnification and filter(s): 250x
Seeing: 6/10 Transparency: 4/5

Two spectacular galaxies of similar size but different look, in a nice pattern, about perpendicular to eachother. NGC 7332 is a bit larger and much brighter, however visually I've seen it slightly smaller than its fainter companion. A reason for this might be its starlike, bright core, that is washing away the dimmer areas, and to which I estimate a brightness of about 12.7m. The galaxy is losing brightness smoothly toward its outer boundaries. NGC 7339 however does not have a starlike core, its surface looks perfectly homogeneous, it's has a shape of a cigar: faint and highly elongated. It has sharp edges. I estimate a surface brightness of 13.2m. Their sizes are: 0.5' x 1.5' for NGC 7332, which is much smaller than what is stated in the catalogue (1.1' x 4.1'!), and 0.5' x 2.3' for NGC 7339. The photos I've seen make me certain that I'm right by the size estimation, because on these the galaxy pair looks quite the same by size.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]
This sketch was featured on Astronomy Sketch of the Day on Dec 26, 2008.

NGC 7331 + NGC 7335 (Galaxy)
Right ascension: 22h 37m Declination: 34° 25'
Constellation: Pegasus
Date/time: 2008.10.05 19:30 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 22' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 4/5

NGC 7331 is a huge galaxy, elongated in the N-S direction, full of details. Its core is quite bright, raising out towards the West from the galactic plane. The Eastern side of the galaxy looks much larger, the whole surface seems strongly asymmetric. I estimate the brightness of the core to 12.6m, compared to nearby stars using data from the Hubble Guide Star Catalog (GSC), whereas the average brightness of the surface of the galaxy I estimate at 13.5m, which means that it should be visible for most mid-size telescopes under good sky conditions. I measure a size of 1'x6', although according to the large bright galactic core I suspect that it would look much larger under better conditions. To the South of NGC 7331 near the end of the half hour sketching period I've started to see another very subtle little spot which occured to be NGC 7335. To my own estimations, I found it has a surface brightness of about 14.2m, and a size of 0.5'x1.2'. There are more NGC objects visible in the eyepiece, like NGC 7326, 7333 and so on, however most of these were identified later as stars or double stars.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 7814 (Galaxy)
Right ascension: 0h 3m Declination: 16° 9'
Constellation: Pegasus
Date/time: 2008.10.31 20:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 24' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 6/10 Transparency: 3/5

This is a special galaxy, being totally edge-on, although this can be seen only on long-exposition photographs. Visually it rather looks like a smaller galaxy laying in a 45 degree angle. What I see however, is only the core of the galaxy and its nearest vicinity. This core is cut into two halves by the dark dust path of the galactic plane, which can only hardly be seen visually, but it is not impossible by using extreme large magnifications. For me it stayed hidden even with 250x, although conditions were not favourable for galaxy hunting. I estimate its average surface brightness to 13m, and its size 1x2.5', but it's obvious that the whole galaxy is much larger than this.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 7457 (Galaxy)
Right ascension: 23h 1m Declination: 30° 12'
Constellation: Pegasus
Date/time: 2008.11.18 18:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 15' Magnification and filter(s): 250x
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 2/5

Large but faint galaxy in the constellation of Pegasus. It is described as a spiral galaxy in the catalogues, however this is not detectable visually: it looks like an elliptic galaxy elongated in the NW-SE direction, with a totally homogeneous surface and a very tiny core that only slightly outshines the galaxy surface. I estimate its brightness to 13 magnitudes, with a size of about 1'x2.5'.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 7662 (Planetary nebula)
Also known as: Blue snowball
Right ascension: 23h 26m Declination: 42° 35'
Constellation: Andromeda
Date/time: 2008.11.18 19:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 15' Magnification and filter(s): 250x + UHC filter(s)
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 3/5

The planetary, also known as Blue snowball nebula looks planet-like even on powers as small as 45x, with a charming cyan colour. I think this is the planetary, that looks nice even is a theatre-binocular. Naturally, a filter is unneccessary to view it, however I've found that by using a UHC filter its size expands, especially to the Northeast, where a dark blue thin arc shows up. Finding this planetary is not hard at all, but it's a bit tricky, because the viewfinder displays it just like a bright star which you are unable to find on your maps. It has a perfect circular shape of a diametre of 0.6', with a brigthness of about 8m.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]
Click here for a colour version of this sketch.

NGC 7640 (Galaxy)
Right ascension: 23h 22m Declination: 40° 54'
Constellation: Andromeda
Date/time: 2008.11.18 19:30 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 23' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 6/10 Transparency: 3/5

Faint but still very spectacular spiral galaxy with an estimated brightness of about 12.3m. As I almost never read or view pictures of the objects I want to observe (so the photos in my memory will not change the picture I really see with my own eyes), because of its very asymmetrical shape I first thought that it must be an irregular galaxy, similar to the objects in Halton Arp's compilation of peculiar galaxies. Even its core area seemed to almost fall out of the galaxy itself. However, later on by examining astrophotographs it turned out that what I believed to be its core is in fact a bright foreground star and the real galactic core is in fact located in the brighter little densities near this "fake core". At smaller magnification levels (67x) the shape of the galaxy is easier to see, however by increasing the magnification, the sofar homogeneous arms start to show many details, especially with averted vision near the core. I measured its size as 4.5'x1'.

Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]
This sketch was featured on Astronomy Sketch of the Day on Dec 6, 2008.

NGC 7769 + NGC 7770 + NGC 7771 (Galaxy)
Right ascension: 23h 52m Declination: 20° 10'
Constellation: Pegasus
Date/time: 2009.08.20 21:30 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 32' Magnification and filter(s): 100x
Seeing: 4/10 Transparency: 5/5

I've sketched this fantastic trio of galaxies during the Meteor Star Party 2009 in Tarján, Hungary. The two larger ones are the face-on NGC 7769 and the edge-on 7771, both with softly brightening cores. Next to 7771 a small fuzzy object is visible, which surprises me, since my printed star map (TriAtlas B, with a limiting magnitude of about 12) shows no other objects than the two large galaxies at this area of sky. But as I can clearly make out this bright diffuse spot, I place it on the sketch and can't wait to find out what I really saw. It turns out to be the NGC 7770, another faint galaxy of 13.6m. This value I find a bit misleading, because visually its surface is not this much fainter than its two larger companion galaxies. This discovery makes me really happy, just like when I rediscovered NGC 5981 of the Draco Trio. SQM reading: 20.91 m/arcsec^2.

Location: Tarján, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 7625 (Galaxy)
Also known as: Arp 212
Right ascension: 23h 21m Declination: 17° 17'
Constellation: Pegasus
Date/time: 2009.08.20 22:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 18' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 4/5

This 12m faint face-on galaxy of 1' diametre resembles a globular cluster that cannot be resolved at all. Its core brightens slightly, but apart from this it shows no details at all. At about 7-8' to the East, a 9.7 magnitude star is shining in the FoV. This galaxy is also catalogued in Arp's Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies with number 212. SQM reading: 21.03 m/arcsec^2.

Location: Tarján, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 7013 (Galaxy)
Right ascension: 21h 4m Declination: 29° 56'
Constellation: Cygnus
Date/time: 2009.08.21 00:30 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 17' Magnification and filter(s): 250x
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 4/5

A really faint galaxy with an almond shaped slightly brighter core. Small, yet easy to find, located just next to a bright, 10 magnitude star. It shows an interesting ring-like feature on photographs, therefore some suspect that this is a spiral galaxy at its early ages. SQM reading: 21.02 m/arcsec^2 8°C.

Location: Tarján, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]
Guestbook

Date of entry: 12/30/09 15:22:47
Your name: Müller Dániel (K.)
Your comment:
Szia! Nagyon jók a rajzok! Gratula hozzájuk, csodállak :).
Üdv, tiszta, szép, nyugodt egeket!- Dani

Where are you from? Szabadszállás, Hungary
How did you know about my website? Makszutov.hu fórum :)


Date of entry: 07/06/08 15:01:16
Your name: Demelza Ramakers
Your comment:
I really love you're sketches! They are amazing! Keep up the good work!

Clear Skies!
Demelza Ramakers
http://d.ramakers.googlepages.com/home

Where are you from? Holland
How did you know about my website? Cloudy Nights


Date of entry: 05/03/08 16:12:34
Your name: Faith J
Your comment:
Superb sketches, Ferenc, absolutely brilliant. I love the mouse-over effect, too.
http://visualdeepsky.webs.com

Where are you from? England
How did you know about my website? From Cloudy Nights forums


Date of entry: 04/14/08 06:20:04
Your name: Laurie
Your comment:
Awesome sketches! I love it! I was curious what size and what kind of eyepiece were you using with each sketch? I do see the magnification power with each sketch. Thanks - let me know, email address
laurie-wilmothotmail.com

Where are you from? State of Colorado in the USA
How did you know about my website? Cloudy Nights


Date of entry: 04/11/08 07:05:02
Your name: Ferenc Lovró
Your comment:
Feel free to post your comments here. Criticism is welcome, however spam, html, ads, bad words are not tolerated.

Clear skies!

Where are you from? Nádasdladány, Hungary
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All text and images are ©opyright of Ferenc Lovró. All rights reserved worldwide.

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