When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system.
/ Laurel Clark /



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:



WZ Cas (Variable star)
Also known as: WZ Cassiopeiae
Right ascension: 0h 1m Declination: 60° 21'
Constellation: Cassiopeia
Date/time: 2008.01.21 19:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 6' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 3/5

Probably this is the most beautiful orange-coloured star I've ever seen. Located nearby the bright ß Cas, the star B of this binary has a colour index of 0.03 while star A has 3.12 which means that this is an extremely red star. The WZ Cas is a red giant star that is also a variable. Its colour can be best seen in magnifications under 100x.

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

Saturn (Planet)
Right ascension: h m Declination: ° '
Constellation: Andromeda
Date/time: 2008.02.19 21:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 17' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 7/10 Transparency: 4/5

A closer look (Iapetus cannot fit on this sketch). I've marked a possible seventh moon with a questionmark. But I've seen it only for a moment with averted vision.

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

Saturn (Planet)
Right ascension: h m Declination: ° '
Constellation: Andromeda
Date/time: 2008.02.19 21:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 17' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 7/10 Transparency: 4/5

Overview of Saturn and 6 (!) of its moons near the 97% Moon. Unbelievable! The moons from left to right are:
  Iapetus (10.9m)
  Rhea (9.5m)
  Enceladus (11.5m)
  Dione (10.2m)
  Tethys (10.0m)
  Titan (8.2m)

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

Epsilon Lyrae (Binary star)
Also known as: Double double
Right ascension: 18h 44m Declination: 39° 40'
Constellation: Lyra
Date/time: 2008.06.10 22:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 9' Magnification and filter(s): 250x
Seeing: 7/10 Transparency: 4/5

Probably the most observed multiple star system, located in an easy position in Lyra near the bright star Vega. The double can be split even with better binoculars, however the real magic happens with larger telescopes as under good conditions, they will split the double into a "double double"! At 71x I was unable to split the pairs, however at 167x and 250x I had success. A very spectacular object, worth giving a try!

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

NGC 1662 meteor (Various/other)
Right ascension: 4h 49m Declination: 10° 58'
Constellation: Orion
Date/time: 2009.11.24 00:18 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 30' Magnification and filter(s): 100x
Seeing: 7/10 Transparency: 3/5

I was sketching the marvelous open cluster of NGC 1662 at 100x and just after I finished and took a final look, at 00:18 UT suddenly a fiery meteor rushed through the FoV, leaving a bluish ionized tail behind. This was visible for about 10 seconds before it disappeared forever. The series of sketches I've rendered digitally after quick drafts made at the eyepiece, using my actual NGC 1662 sketch as a background. As you can see, the tail was quickly moving to the North (thanks to the Dobsonian mount I was able to react and follow very quickly). While it constantly lost its brightness, it became wider and wider, and the most interesting phenomenon was the change of its shape: it got 'broken' at several points. Between each of these points, the tail remained straight. The joints were visibly brighter than the straight parts, just like on the sketch. I wonder if this is the regular behaviour of ionized tails of meteors, but this is what I saw. Anyhow, it was most probably the greatest 10 seconds of my observing life.

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

Copernicus crater (Our Moon)
Also known as: Copernicus + Fauth + Gay-Lussac
Right ascension: h m Declination: ° '
Constellation:
Date/time: 2009.12.26 17:15 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: ' Magnification and filter(s): 250x + 30% neutral filter(s)
Seeing: 4/10 Transparency: 1/5

This is my first ever Moon-sketch, displaying craters Copernicus, Fauth and Gay-Lussac with some other sub-craters and domes not noted on the sketch. This is my actual sketch done at the eyepiece, no alterations were made after manually or digitally, other than resizing. It took about 45 minutes to finish, and I'm quite satisfied with it, althouth I've found that sketching the Moon is indeed very hard and very different from sketching deep space objects. Perhaps I should not finish Lunar sketches at the eyepiece but create only drafts with different markings for different shades and create the actual sketch in the warmth of the room. As an additional difficulty, the sky was 100% covered with a thin layer of cloud which made the image to be in constant change, only 1 or 2 stars was visible here and then. Moon phase was about 69%.

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

Prinz crater + Montes Harbinger (Our Moon)
Also known as: Prinz, Krieger C, Vera, Angström, Montes Harbinger, Rimae Prinz
Right ascension: h m Declination: ° '
Constellation:
Date/time: 2010.03.26 20:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: ' Magnification and filter(s): 300x + 15% neutral filter(s)
Seeing: 2/10 Transparency: 4/5

I was just cruising around the terminator of the Moon, testing the new cooling equipment on my OTA, when I found a very interesting mountain chain with some ruined crater at one end, near the crater Aristarchus which was right on the terminator. The view was so spectacular, that I decided to make a sketch. I found out that the large crater was Prinz, and the mountains attached are Montes Harbinger. I've sketched some additional minor craters nearby that have been cropped out from this image. A really unusual view, worth taking a peek when it's near the terminator!

Location: Nádasdladány, 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
How did you know about my website? Actually, I'm the owner of it. :)


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All text and images are ©opyright of Ferenc Lovró. All rights reserved worldwide.

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