I've been away a while - this is what I've been upto ...

[mental4astro]

Hello all,

I've been away from AF for a long while. Thought it might be a good time for a bit of a show'n'tell after my good friend Jay prompted me.

I love to sketch. I've been sketching through the telescope since Halley's comet with my 2" Tasco refractor. I still have that little guy, and it's still in active service, though I've added a few new items to the arsenal, .

My main problem with sketching had been the texture of the paper and the coarseness of the materials. The end result while "OK" never really satisfied me. This was the case until a couple of years ago when I came across the work of another Australian astro-sketcher, Scott Mellish. Scott had developed a method of sketching at the eyepiece that overcame the problems of texture and coarseness, and allow us to produce a piece that, for me, gives the most likeness to what is seen in the eyepiece.

I had the pleasure of meeting Scott in November 2010. That one hour spent with him was such a revelation to me that it inspired me to write an article on his method, with Scott proof-reading and making contributions to the article. I really could only call this method of astro-sketching "The Mellish Technique", which I published in the Australian amateur astronomy site Ice In Space. The REAL punch to the Mellish Technique is the way Scott came up with to depict a globular cluster just the way we see it, in all its glory, range of illumination, and mass of countless stars.

Saddly, Scott passed away in April 2011. He is greatly missed by his family and friends.

I use The Mellish Technique pretty much exclusively with all my DSO work. All done at the eyepiece, with only a dim red light to show me the way around the black page. I sketch at the eyepiece directly onto black paper. Not for everyone, but that is what floats my boat, .

The following is a little gallery of the DSO's I've laid down onto paper.

M42 with my 2" refractor from my home in Sydney. 32mm Plossl (19X), OIII filter:
409.jpg

Eta Carina Nebula, 8" f/4 push-pull dob, 28mm RKE (29X), OIII filter, from home in Sydney:
424.jpg

Eagle Nebula, 17.5" f/4.5 push-pull dob, 16mm Konig (125X), OIII filter, from Ilford, NSW, Australia.
Eagle.jpg

Galaxy NGC 253, 17.5" f/4.5 push-pull dob, 16mm Konig (125X), from Ilford, Australia
NGC 253 dark CN.jpg

Globular cluster 47 Tuc, 17.5" f/4.5 push-pull dob, 16mm Konig (125X), from Ilford
47 Tuc mod (2) - CN.JPG

Back in a moment with a few more!

Alex.

[mental4astro]

The above were done last year.

Opportunities this year have been very few due to the poor weather. But your take what you get and run with it...

Eta Carina Nebula complex, 17.5" f/4.5 push-pull dob, 16mm Konig (125X), OIII filter, from Sydney, 3hrs
Eta Carina complex CN.JPG

M20, 17.5" push-pull dob, 24mm Hyperion (83X), OIII filter, from Katoomba Airfield, Australia, 1.5hrs
M20, 23rd April 2012 - CN.JPG

Wide field from Eta Carina to NGC 3532, 11X70 binoculars, from home in Sydney, 2hrs
NGC 3372 to NGC 3532.JPG

Omega Centauri, 17.5" push-pull dob, 15mm Superview (133X), from Sydney, 2.5hrs
Omega Centauri.JPG

Wide field from M8 to M20 & M21, 8" f/4 push-pull dob, 30mm TMB Paragon (27X), OIII filter, from home in Sydney, approx 50min
wide field, M8 & M20 (1) - CN.JPG

Alex.

[mental4astro]

DSO's aren't all I chase. The Moon makes for a very worthy subject too.

While I use the same materials with the Moon that I use with my DSO's, the technique I use is completely different. No *****-footing here! Smash and Grab is what it's all about! The shadows along the terminator move very quickly, so one needs to move quickly.

The Moon and planets is the only instance where I use a motorised scope. My C5 was my workhorse for many years, now replaced with a thirty year old orange tube C8.

Copernicus near "midday"
Copernicus CN.jpg

98% Full Moon
98% Moon CN.JPG

Aristarchus, Herodtus & Valis Schroteri
Aristarchus, Herodtus et Vallis Schroteri.JPG

Copernicus at sunset
Copernican sunset CN.JPG

Straight Wall & Rima Birt
Straight Wall - Copy.JPG

Well, that's a summary on what I've been upto. Best thing too is there is a whole lot more things up there to lay down on paper!

Clear skies & sharp pencils,

Alex.

[admin]

Alex thanks for the scope details, its interesting to note the 8" vs 17.5" Eta Carinae! Beautiful really nice work thanks for sharing them

[Flea77]

WOW! Very nice work. My stick figures are hiding in shame :-)

Allan

[AJinUT]

Alex,

As always, I love studying your work and comparing and contrasting it to my own. Your subtle use of the technique really shows up well in the sketches. By the way, I hope you don't mind but I would like to link to Scott's gallery at ASOD so others can see his work there. Two masters of the art. Perhaps next year I will have developed enough to give you a run in the Scott Mellish competition. Well done.

[rory]

alex,thats a great set of sketches . given me food for thought,as ive just strated trying to sketch at the eyepiece.if i can get anywhere near that standard id be a happy chappy. thanks for showing them ,they are top draw !

[warmvet]

Beautiful, detailed work, and thanks for the link to "The Mellish Technique". I am always looking to improve my techniques

[dmbryan]

Great job man. Very nice indeed.

[BABOafrica]

Nice technique you have there.... And it helps to have all that power with 17.5" scope.

I especially liked your Eagle Nebula.

Thanks for posting.

Clears,
Joe