M11 - The Wild Duck Cluster in Scutum

That's a lovely Sketch Deirdre ! M11 is my favourite star cluster, it's a superb view. Here's a shot I got of it from Kingscourt, only 16 miles away ! Shot this summer, and - i know what you mean about the cows - weird listening to them when i'm off imaging
Keith..

s56.photobucket.com/albums/g172/Keithg1_...amp;imgAnch=imgAnch2

Thanks every one for your positive comments, Keith you nearly always have a photo to compare with my sketches. In your image there are a lot more stars resolved; in mine nebulous rendering is sort of representing those unresolved stars.

I could not separate the vast majority of them with my eyes, just an overwhelming amount of stars in this gorgeous cluster. Love to have a go at it in better conditions another time.

Tips : Go to an art shop and get good pencils, like Conte, or Staedtler Sketching pencils box of 12 from 8B – 2H . Good paper if you can get some like Rite in the Rain
www.riteintherain.com/ I am using an all – weather sketch book No 186 at the moment. I started using Winsor & Newton cartridge paper so just start anyway with what you can get.

You need a red light so you do not loose your dark adapt, and you need to observe long and hard before you start to draw. I use a 70mm circle, and invert the sketch in Photoshop after, I try to make points to keep the stars round not irregular, I am getting better at that.

I try to put the larger magnitude stars in first and then try and build up with the fainter stars, I am still progressing with this and have not got it right yet. I hope to use star colour eventually but this takes more time and in Ireland you are lucky if you get a clear night and even luckier if the night is steady and even luckier if you are in a dark place at the right time.

There was a strong wall between me and the cows, but it is spooky sitting alone in the dark listening to them mooching away.!

Deirdre Kelleghan
Irish Astronomical Society
www.irishastrosoc.org