How quickly do we grow accustomed to wonders. I am reminded of the Isaac Asimov story "Nightfall," about the planet where the stars were visible only once in a thousand years. So awesome was the sight that it drove men mad. We who can see the stars every night glance up casually at the cosmos and then quickly down again, searching for a Dairy Queen.
/ Roger Ebert, from a movie review in the "Chicago Sun Times" /



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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