He preferred the hard truth to his dearest illusions.
/ Carl Sagan's epitaph to astronomer Johannes Kepler /



In memoriam Halton C. Arp (1927-2013).


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


Need advice? Want to discuss an observation? Feel free to contact me at flovro gmail*com.

ÚJ! Amennyiben elérhető, a ikonra kattintva magyarul is olvashatod az észlelést.


Show me the newest sketches!
By type: open clusters [67] globular clusters [14] diffuse nebulae [3] dark nebulae [0] planetary nebulae [27] variable stars [18] binary stars [23] asterisms [2] galaxies [119] quasars [1] planets [2] minor planets [1] comets [5] Sun [0] Moon [5] other objects [8]
By catalogue: Messier 1-50 [20] Messier 51-110 [18] NGC 1-1000 [17] NGC 1001-2000 [21] NGC 2001-3000 [32] NGC 3001-4000 [25] NGC 4001-5000 [18] NGC 5001-6000 [22] NGC 6001-7000 [40] NGC 7001-7840 [35] IC 1-5386 [1] other catalogues [71] uncataloged [10] [25]
By constellation:



NGC 2648 (Galaxy)
Right ascension: 8h 43m Declination: 14° 17'
Constellation: Cancer
Date/time: 2008.03.30 22:45 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 20' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 3/5
Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Description:

This spiral galaxy is one of the brightest galaxies in Cancer, with a luminosity of 11.8-13m according to catalogues, however to me it looks much brighter than this, with an especially easily noticeable bright galactic core. The almond-shaped star city is small, yet an easy target thanks to the three nearby bright stars.


Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

M67 (Open cluster)
Also known as: NGC 2862
Right ascension: 8h 50m Declination: 11° 49'
Constellation: Cancer
Date/time: 2008.03.30 21:30 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 24' Magnification and filter(s): 71x
Seeing: 7/10 Transparency: 4/5
Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Description:

The second largest open cluster of the constellation Cancer, right after the M44, which can also be seen with naked-eyes even under suburban skies. On a power of 71x, it fills the neary half degree field of vision. It was easily found: even the 8x50 finderscope displays it as a shiny little blur. The M67 is a nice, dense open cluster, with a members of high variety of brightness: there are about a dozen dominant stars of the 12th magnitude, but in the backround you can easily detect stars of 13-14m. The entire population visible to me were at least 100 stars, however the background looks really diffuse, so I assume there must be plenty of even dimmer stars in this cluster.


Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

M44 (Open cluster)
Also known as: NGC 2632
Right ascension: 8h 41m Declination: 19° 48'
Constellation: Cancer
Date/time: 2010.02.16 01:00 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 1° Magnification and filter(s): 45x
Seeing: 7/10 Transparency: 2/5
Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Description:

Huge, bright open cluster in the middle of the Cancer constellation. It's so bright that it can be easily noticed with the naked eye on a sky that has a NELM of at least 4-4.5 magnitudes, as a faint fuzzy spot. It's actual diametre when viewed in a telescope is twice as large as that of the full Moon, therefore it's best viewed in a wide field telescope like a short rafractor, finderscope or binoculars. I've some sentimental feelings about this object, because it was the first deep space object I've ever observed with my own telescope (a 114/900 newt back in 2001). It has some dozens of relatively bright stars with white or a bit bluish colours, some of them forming spectacular triangles. The weather conditions were not favorable for sketching, I measured -11°C when I finished this session.


Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

X CNC (TVICS)
Also known as: X Cancri
Right ascension: 8h 55m Declination: 17° 14'
Constellation: Cancer
Date/time: 2014.02.04 00:20 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: ' Magnification and filter(s): 250x
Seeing: 5/10 Transparency: 3/5
SQM: 21.08 m/as2 Temperature: -8°C
Humidity: moderate Wind: breeze
Sight: 4 - lots of details, very interesting, unique look
Difficulty: 1 - instantly visible, no dark adaptation or averted vision needed
Position: 1 - very easy, many bright stars nearby
Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Description:

The brightest star of the field by far. It has a beautiful intense orange colour. Very spectacular, and a remarkably easy target.


Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

T CNC (TVICS)
Also known as: T Cancri
Right ascension: 8h 57m Declination: 19° 51'
Constellation: Cancer
Date/time: 2014.02.04 00:35 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: ' Magnification and filter(s): 250x
Seeing: 4/10 Transparency: 3/5
SQM: 20.97 m/as2 Temperature: -8°C
Humidity: moderate Wind: breeze
Sight: 4 - lots of details, very interesting, unique look
Difficulty: 2 - easily visible, some dark adaptation needed, averted vision might add to details
Position: 3 - moderate, some starhopping needed
Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Description:

A rather faint, very spectacularly colourful, beautiful little star with red colour and an orange hue. A real little gem, worth taking a look.


Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]

NGC 2775 (Galaxy)
Also known as: Caldwell C48, Herschel H2-1
Right ascension: 9h 11m Declination: 6° 58'
Constellation: Cancer
Date/time: 2014.03.01 21:45 UT
Equipment: 12" f/5 Newtonian
FoV: 22' Magnification and filter(s): 167x
Seeing: 4/10 Transparency: 3/5
SQM: 21.27 m/as2 Temperature: 5°C
Humidity: low Wind: gusts
Sight: 2 - minor details, somewhat interesting
Difficulty: 2 - easily visible, some dark adaptation needed, averted vision might add to details
Position: 2 - easy, bright star nearby
Location: Nádasdladány, Hungary
Observer: Ferenc Lovró
Description:

Small, round spiral galaxy that is slightly elongated to the N-S. Its central region is moderately brighter than its disk. I estimate its dimensions to 1.5x2' with the center shining at about 13.5m and the surface at about 14m. I find the official 11m brightness catalogue data very misleading.


Hi-resolution image: [ reversed sketch | original sketch ]
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