Isn’t This The Cutest Globular Cluster You Ever Did See?
So it was a clear night last night, and knowing I might not get another clear night for a while, I went into the shed and dragged out my ten inch telescope. Then I got my pencils and sketch pad, and began astronomy sketching!
Astronomy sketching is often seem as less glamorous than astro photography. But the reason I prefer astronomy sketching is your sketches fairly accurately represent what you see through the telescope. Astro photography, while often more beautiful than astronomy sketches, tends to look nothing like what you would see through a telescope. Also with astro photography, the process of putting together the image does not happen while looking through the telescope, while with astro sketching, you look through the telescope and you draw, so I feel you develop a stronger connection with the object you are trying to capture. Also, I am not jealous of astro photographers, stop saying that!
The object I present today is the Great Cluster of Hercules. It is 25,000 light years from Earth. And what is a globular cluster you ask? A globular cluster is a spherical collection of stars, tightly bound by gravity. The way I think of it is that this part of the galaxy we are in is the countryside, while globular clusters are the cities. When I’m looking at Hercules, I feel like I am in the middle of the wilderness, looking at a distant metropolis.
This is my first time seeing Hercules in a while, and I must say I missed it, those wonderful swirls of stars are quite a sight to see. It’s also my first time seeing Hercules through my ten inch telescope which I got in September. From 2015 until September, I used a six inch telescope. I have had many wonderful adventures with that scope, which is why I don’t think I will ever part with it, so it sits in the shed enjoying its retirement. But I saw everything I could with that telescope, and a more powerful one was needed, so I got the ten inch scope. Heavier, but worth it!
And last night I saw another globular cluster, NGC 6229 (astronomical objects have exciting names don’t they?) I have never managed to see this cluster with my old telescope, so it’s made me excited for the new weird and wonderful clusters and galaxies I am likely to see over the coming years! But I was tired and wanted to go to sleep, so a sketch of NGC 6229 will have to wait for another time!
(Update: After having a think about it later, I am now reasonably certain that I did not see NGC 6229 that night. It is quite near Messier 92, a much brighter globular cluster that I’ve seen many times before, so it’s more plausible that I accidentally stumbled on Messier 92. If you’re interested in Messier 92 I’ve got a blogpost on it:
Ponderings Of An Autist 
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