This is NGC 7009 through a 20" F 4.5 at 440X from Tierra del Sol, CA, NELM 6.5. I had about an hour of Pickering 6 seeing in which to make the sketch. I was very surprised at how much detail was visible in this bright planetary. I have found sketching DSO's to be quite challenging, mainly due to the need of a fairly bright red light with which to sketch. After I make a few marks on the paper I return to the EP to find that my previously dark adapted vision had deteriorated and takes a couple of minutes to improve. It is quite a tedious process. I tried just making a rough sketch with notes and a final drawing later in good light, but in subsequent observing sessions found that my finished sketch did not accurately reflect what I saw. After I scan the drawing I open it in Photoshop, invert the colors, then add some Gaussian Blur to better blend my pencil marks. I guess its sort of cheating, but it makes for a much more pleasing finished product. Thanks for looking.
http://members.cox.net/767/DSO_main_page.html
http://members.cox.net/767/DSO_main_page.html
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