Sketches of Astronomical Objects

Gallery of drawings of astronomical objects, as they appear in my telescope's eyepiece. The purpose of these works, apart from artistic expression, is to present deep sky and other celestial objects the way we "really" see them in a telescope - by our own eyes and not through artificially enhanced astrophotography images. Visit one of the galleries, or see the list of objects. If you are a beginner who would like to know what can you expect to see through a telescope - you might be interested in this article.

Messier deep sky objects drawings

messier deep sky sketches

NGC, IC and other deep sky objects drawings

ngc ic deep sky sketches

Double stars and solar system objects drawings

double stars sketches

Description:

I made these drawings during observing sessions at my telescope's eyepiece. Most of these sessions were held at Negev desert in Israel, which features moderately dark skies (bortle 2-3) with dry air and ~6.6-7.1 naked eye limiting magnitude (NELM). The sketches were rendered on a white paper (mostly) under the illumination of a red flashlight, using graphite pencils and various art tools. The instruments I mostly used were 8", 10", 12" equatorial newtonians.

Since the original drawings are made with graphite pencil - they appear black on a white background. In order to acheive realistic impression - the sketches are digitalized, inverted and processed in Photoshop. Depending on an object - it takes between 30 mintues to 5 hours to make a complete drawing (including the sketch and the processing).

Click on one of the links above to visit the galleries. In case you are interested in high resolution versions or the original scans for publishing - feel free to contact me.

Sketching versus Photography:

To a human eye - the universe appears faint and gray (excluding close stars and some nebulae). This is different from what long exposure and highly processed photography teaches us. While Hubble photos may look pretty and give us a lot of scientific information - this is not how human eye percepts the space.
For example: If one would approach in a space ship to Andromeda galaxy, he would not see a brilliant whirlpool of stars and colorful nebulae like we see in photos. In reality he would see something huge, gray and rather faint - similar to how our own Milky Way galaxy looks from a really dark site. In my opinion - this impression can only be achieved through visual observations and expressed by drawing.

Publications:

Astronomy Magazine (jan 2014 issue - Horsehead and Rosette nebulae, dec 2014 issue - Messier 35). Sky and Telescope Magazine (sep 2017 issue - Messier 42 and Albireo, sep 2015 issue - Iota Cassiopea, may 2017 article - Messier 13, dec 2015 web article - Venus occultation photo). Unveiling Galaxies (book by Jean Rene-Roy, 2017 - Virgo cluster). BBC Sky at Night Magazine (dec 2019 issue and web article - Messier 1, 33, 42, 31, 81, 82, 35, NGC 2392, 869, 884) Interstellarium Magazine (mar 2017 issue - Messier 41, june 2012 issue - Messier 71 & Garadd comet). Astronomie Magazine (july 2016 issue - Messier 11, may 2015 issue - Messier 3). Jerusalem Museum of Science ("Games of the light and shadow" art exhibition, 2013-2016). Weizmann Institute of Science ("Science Festival" event, 2011). Ort Braude College Gallery ("Light Years within Touching Distance" event). Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics (Volume 584, 2015, A90 paper, Virgo cluster chart from "Deep Sky Hunter")

List of sketched DSO:


Messier 1
Messier 2
Messier 3
Messier 4
Messier 8
Messier 11
Messier 13
Messier 16
Messier 17
Messier 20
Messier 26
Messier 27
Messier 31
Messier 32
Messier 33
Messier 34
Messier 35
Messier 41
Messier 42
Messier 43
Messier 47
Messier 51
Messier 52
Messier 57
Messier 64
Messier 65
Messier 66
Messier 71
Messier 75
Messier 76
Messier 78
Messier 79
Messier 81
Messier 82
Messier 84
Messier 86
Messier 87
Messier 88
Messier 91
Messier 92
Messier 93
Messier 101
Messier 102
Messier 104
Messier 106
Messier 110
 
 
 


NGC 40
NGC 246
NGC 253
NGC 281
NGC 404
NGC 457
NGC 672
NGC 869
NGC 884
NGC 925
NGC 1374
NGC 1379
NGC 1380
NGC 1381
NGC 1387
NGC 1399
NGC 1404
NGC 1980
NGC 1999
NGC 2022
NGC 2023
NGC 2024
NGC 2158
NGC 2237
NGC 2238
NGC 2239
NGC 2244
NGC 2246
NGC 2252
NGC 2359
NGC 2362
NGC 2392
NGC 2451
NGC 3222
NGC 3226
NGC 3227
NGC 3242
NGC 3628
NGC 3640
NGC 3641
NGC 3972
NGC 3977
NGC 3982
NGC 3990
NGC 3998
NGC 4038
NGC 4039
NGC 4361
NGC 4388
NGC 4387
NGC 4402
NGC 4413
NGC 4425
NGC 4435
NGC 4438
NGC 4458
NGC 4461
NGC 4473
NGC 4476
NGC 4477
NGC 4478
NGC 4485
NGC 4490
NGC 4516
NGC 4565
NGC 4627
NGC 4631
NGC 4656
NGC 4841-1
NGC 4841-2
NGC 4848
NGC 4841
NGC 4860
NGC 4864
NGC 4869
NGC 4874
NGC 4886
NGC 4889
NGC 4895
NGC 4898
NGC 4907
NGC 4908
NGC 5128
NGC 5139
NGC 5195
NGC 5350
NGC 5353
NGC 5354
NGC 5355
NGC 5371
NGC 5447
NGC 5449
NGC 5458
NGC 5461
NGC 5462
NGC 5839
NGC 5845
NGC 5846
NGC 5846A
NGC 5850
NGC 5907
NGC 6217
NGC 6309
NGC 6520
NGC 6543
NGC 6572
NGC 6781
NGC 6819
NGC 6822
NGC 6826
NGC 6888
NGC 6905
NGC 6960
NGC 6992
NGC 6994
NGC 6995
NGC 6997
NGC 7000
NGC 7009
NGC 7172
NGC 7173
NGC 7174
NGC 7176
NGC 7293
NGC 7331
NGC 7335
NGC 7337
NGC 7340
NGC 7463
NGC 7464
NGC 7465
NGC 7611
NGC 7619
NGC 7623
NGC 7626
NGC 7662
 
 
 
 
 

 

Abell 1656
Abell S0373
Barnard 33
Barnard 86
Barnard 294
Cr 21
IC 418
IC 434
IC 1340
IC 1590
IC 1727
IC 4665
IC 5070
Wray 16-350
LBN 949
LDN 934
WLM galaxy