Honours and Awards
Deadly Moons
NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS My drawing workshop Deadly Moons has been honoured by the worlds leading Science Magazine . Deadly Moons has been given recognised for its educational value by the American Association for the Advancement of Science . Deadly Moons shares the award with UNAWE Universe Awareness for Young Children Read the essay here
Deadly Moons is the COOLEST workshop on the Planet
Click Science Logo for interview with Dr Carolina Odman and myself about our work together.
Award from the European Space Agency for Action Comet Workshop
Astronomy Sketch of the Day May 16th 2015 http://www.asod.info/?p=15009
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I went out to sketch the AR 2339 in h-alpha but when I saw this massive Hedgerow type prominence on the limb it had to be done.
PST 40 halpha scope ,8mm eyepiece / 50X
Pastels and Conte on black paper. 13:33 UT May 13th 2015
Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland
PST 40 halpha scope ,8mm eyepiece / 50X
Pastels and Conte on black paper. 13:33 UT May 13th 2015
Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland
Lunar Photo of the Day December 23rd 2009
Technical Details
Dec 21st '09; 17:30 UT - 18:15 UT. 200 mm reflector, 26mm eyepiece, FL1200 mm. Pencil rotated. Seeing 2 , Lunation 5.23 days. 0°C.
10:15 AM; Deirdre added this info: I would have liked to do a pastel drawing of the Solstice Crescent Moon but it was too cold. To shorten my drawing time I choose to use pencils. The diameter was determined by a cereal bowl, approx 4 inches. The wonderful Mare Nectaris, was one of the best defined areas. Fracastorius showed its horseshoe edging out of the terminator. Piccolomini's central mountain was wrapped in shadows which created its circular shape. Seeing was not so good, Earthshine was just visible but no details stood out in the dark body of the Solstice Moon as one would expect.
Dec 21st '09; 17:30 UT - 18:15 UT. 200 mm reflector, 26mm eyepiece, FL1200 mm. Pencil rotated. Seeing 2 , Lunation 5.23 days. 0°C.
10:15 AM; Deirdre added this info: I would have liked to do a pastel drawing of the Solstice Crescent Moon but it was too cold. To shorten my drawing time I choose to use pencils. The diameter was determined by a cereal bowl, approx 4 inches. The wonderful Mare Nectaris, was one of the best defined areas. Fracastorius showed its horseshoe edging out of the terminator. Piccolomini's central mountain was wrapped in shadows which created its circular shape. Seeing was not so good, Earthshine was just visible but no details stood out in the dark body of the Solstice Moon as one would expect.
Astronomy Picture of the Day - Venus Occultation - Dec 6th 2008
Meade LX 90 FL 2000mm
35mm eyepiece = 57X
Dec 1st 2008 - Greystones Co Wicklow Ireland
Freezing
Pastels/Conte on FineArt Pastel Velour Paper
15:35 - 17:10 approx too cold to time with any great regard
Venus was shining like a million dollar jewel in the early evening sky. The young moon hung low in milky blue atmosphere, giant Jupiter watched the visually stunning occultation unfolding below.
As it got darker more and more detail became visible on the crescent moon.
Between finishing the Venus vanishing sketch and the reemergence of Venus
I put as much lunar detail as possible in the time and under the conditions as I could.
The view as Venus reappeared and once again sparkled like a diamond stuck on the moon was breathtaking .
I quickly place the planet as accurately as I could and then continued to enjoy the view
35mm eyepiece = 57X
Dec 1st 2008 - Greystones Co Wicklow Ireland
Freezing
Pastels/Conte on FineArt Pastel Velour Paper
15:35 - 17:10 approx too cold to time with any great regard
Venus was shining like a million dollar jewel in the early evening sky. The young moon hung low in milky blue atmosphere, giant Jupiter watched the visually stunning occultation unfolding below.
As it got darker more and more detail became visible on the crescent moon.
Between finishing the Venus vanishing sketch and the reemergence of Venus
I put as much lunar detail as possible in the time and under the conditions as I could.
The view as Venus reappeared and once again sparkled like a diamond stuck on the moon was breathtaking .
I quickly place the planet as accurately as I could and then continued to enjoy the view
Spaceweather front page June 2nd 2009
Active Region 1019 June 2nd 2009 PST 40 mm / 8mm TVP Up scaled by eye Pastel, and Conte on black paper 11:00 UT
Astronomy Sketch of the Day November 5th 2007
Comet 17/P Holmes Bray Co Wicklow Ireland
28th October 2007
18:40 UT Mag 2
Reflector FL 1200mm/8mm eyepiece/150X Pastel/Conte/Black Paper
Here is my sketch from October 28th,2007. I got going early to avoid the predicted cloud cover. I had a long look into the halo around the nucleus. The material emanating from the pin point center seemed to be heading in a more southerly direction than I had observed in previous evenings. I could see darker areas fanning in the opposite direction in the inner halo. A star was visible just inside the outer halo. Because I could see a star through the out gassing then it must be very thin? The star was visually similar in size to the comet nucleus but a little dimmer. Sometimes the coma seemed to momentarily have transparent spaces within it. I have not seen a star in the area of the dark spaces, I wonder if these spaces are filled with dust? All this was visible even though there was a 17 day moon rising almost directly under the icy action.
March 27th Sydney Observatory
28th October 2007
18:40 UT Mag 2
Reflector FL 1200mm/8mm eyepiece/150X Pastel/Conte/Black Paper
Here is my sketch from October 28th,2007. I got going early to avoid the predicted cloud cover. I had a long look into the halo around the nucleus. The material emanating from the pin point center seemed to be heading in a more southerly direction than I had observed in previous evenings. I could see darker areas fanning in the opposite direction in the inner halo. A star was visible just inside the outer halo. Because I could see a star through the out gassing then it must be very thin? The star was visually similar in size to the comet nucleus but a little dimmer. Sometimes the coma seemed to momentarily have transparent spaces within it. I have not seen a star in the area of the dark spaces, I wonder if these spaces are filled with dust? All this was visible even though there was a 17 day moon rising almost directly under the icy action.
March 27th Sydney Observatory
International Astronomical Sketching Exhibition at Blackrock Castle Observatory Cork IYA 2009
Back in the days when professional astronomers observed primarily with their own eyes at the telescope, one would talk about the "personal equation" of each astronomer. Deirdre Kelleghan's exhibit, collecting amateur astronomical sketches, has re-introduced the "personal" into the equation.
The person at the eyepiece, drawing by hand, unites the beautiful whispers of light from the sky with their own soul and spirit, their own unique human choice of what they draw and how they draw it. Even drawings of the same object, such as lunar craters (or, in one example shown here, a faint nebula) will be as different as the artists who draw them.
And this exercise in drawing, like the ability to look through a telescope in the first place, is not limited merely to the expert. A number of these drawings show that wonderful representations of things seen in a telescope can be produced even by people with little or no formal training. Astronomy is for everyone; so is drawing the objects that astronomy shows us.
At a time when a lot of effort, amateur as well as professional, is put into the recording of astronomical objects with the latest CCD and computer equipment, this exhibit reminds us of the person who is still the center of astronomy done for the love of the sky.
Br. Guy Consolmagno
The person at the eyepiece, drawing by hand, unites the beautiful whispers of light from the sky with their own soul and spirit, their own unique human choice of what they draw and how they draw it. Even drawings of the same object, such as lunar craters (or, in one example shown here, a faint nebula) will be as different as the artists who draw them.
And this exercise in drawing, like the ability to look through a telescope in the first place, is not limited merely to the expert. A number of these drawings show that wonderful representations of things seen in a telescope can be produced even by people with little or no formal training. Astronomy is for everyone; so is drawing the objects that astronomy shows us.
At a time when a lot of effort, amateur as well as professional, is put into the recording of astronomical objects with the latest CCD and computer equipment, this exhibit reminds us of the person who is still the center of astronomy done for the love of the sky.
Br. Guy Consolmagno