M51 - The Whirpool Galaxy

The Whirlpool Galaxy it's a bit difficult to find in the Ursa Major.
In fact this one, is not one but two galaxies colliding each other.

This galaxy is very faint in a polluted sky, so you need a dark sky to observe it in the best conditions.

M27 - The Dumbbell

Easy to spot in the Vulpecula, near Sagita. It's one of the biggest planetary nebulas (dead star remains) but isn't very bright.

A hole in the moon

This is my only sketch of our satellite, more will come in the future. Made with ink pen with no rough sketch.

The hardest part was afterwards when i tried to identify the crater, i was unable to do it, so i had to ask for some help. The moon libration (the moon balancing) difficults the identification afterwards.

Thank you Marcelo for your assistance.

Marcelo's work:

NGC253 - Sculptor Galaxy - Was Messier blind?

How could Messier pass thru this one... lack of luck, for sure.

This galaxy was one of my latest discoveries (for me, of course).

Located in the Sculptor, this edge on galaxy is big and bright.

Wonderful in a dark sky, a must in a summer night.

M42 & M43 - The Warrior GREAT Sword

M42, known as the Orion Nebula, this huge nebula, located in Orion,in the Sword of the warrior, is one of the great wonders of our sky.

I've seen it before thru binoculars, but the real deal is thru a telescope! It's amazing this nebula, so big, so bright.

I had to make several drawings just to calm down.

The sketches were made in the beautiful lands of Alentejo, where the darkest skies lie down here in Portugal.

This was a great summer night,with a clearest sky and many objects seen and sketched.

M104 - Sombrero Galaxy - Do you like Tequilla?

Beautiful edge galaxy. It's easy to spot, you can see it in Virgo near Corvus constellation.

M81 & M82 - The Bode smoking a Cigar

M82 - The Cigar Galaxy














M81 - The Bode's Galaxy

This were the first galaxies i saw at the telescope, they're outstanding, in Ursa Major, you can see it during almost the whole year. Apparently this two have collided in the past!

At low power you can see this couple in the same field of view... with this ones i discovered my passion, GALAXIES!

M57 - The Lost Ring of LYra

M57, when i saw it for the first time, i couldn't believe it...

This ring nebula, is a planetary nebula, it means this are the remains of a dead start that exploded, long time ago, far far away.

As you see by the pictures, I sketch in white paper, then after scanning the sketch I invert the colors in photoshop. All the sketches are made at the eyepiece, i make no further changes to them.

M17 - The Swan

Wonderful view of the sky... where I live, I can only see a check mark, but in darker skies, like in Atalaia, Portugal, you can actualy see the swan at its best.

This sketch was made at Francisco 's eyepiece. Thank you Francisco, for all the support!

M8 - The first steps...

This was one of my first sketches, M8, the Lagoon Nebula. I do all my sketches at the eyepiece, so i (try to) depict exactly what I'm seeing.

When I'm in the mood, i try to sketch as many objects i can in one night, usually i do about 6 to 10 sketches. I use a pen for the stars and a smooth pencil for the nebulosity.

Hello World!...humm... should i say Hello Universe?

I love the wonders of the universe (earth included!)... so im starting with this thing they call astronomy.

It all started up with an annular eclipse in 03 October 2005, i chased the damn thing for 700km, and all end up in Bragança, Portugal, I'll never forget that view...
In March 06, i joined an astronomy club: CA2000, where i took my first steps into astronomy, well... amateur astronomy (the word amateur can be deceiving).

In this skylogger, I'll post some sketches i make while im observing and some thoughts, take the advice, only look to the pictures!

Clear Skies
Pedro Costa