xfile101
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/08/07
Posts: 738
Loc: Ocean Gate, NJ
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Since Pluto has been demoted to a dwarf planet our solar system has a "new" outer planet and it's name is Neptune. To be honest, I did this quickie sketch more for a guide than aesthetics. Most new people to astronomy don't know what they are going to see when they begin their sky journey and some are undoubtedly disappointed when they find something while others are overjoyed (include me in that one). Anyway, when you begin to reach out beyond the obvious (Moon, inner planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, M31 etc) it may be a bit of a challenge to really believe what you are seeing is the actual object. This sketch will give a new person a relative aspect of what our 8th planet looks like and it's position relative to the neighboring stars (notice the bright star to it's right(West, sorry don't know the name of this star) and double star (again, not sure of the double's name) above and to the right (NW), admittedly, there isn't a lot of detail to be seen but the fact that light takes about 4 hours to get from Neptune to here should give you an idea of why this planet, though large, is so small. I enjoyed my viewing of Neptune last night and I hope you enjoy this little sketch of what it looks like and what the neighboring stars look like. Thanks, and happy hunting 
P.S. I apologize for excluding the cardinal points, someday, I'll get the hang of sketching properly.
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Orion XT8I
Celestron 114EQ Firstscope
Meade 70mm
Astroscan
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rodelaet
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/06
Posts: 2632
Loc: 50°56' N - 4°58' E (Belgium)
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Frank,
Fascinating sketch! 
4 light hours is indeed a long, long way to travel.
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Rony
My Astronomy Sketches
My Binocular Sketches
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WadeVC
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/02/05
Posts: 2781
Loc: Lodi, California,
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xfile,
Once again, an object that gets very little recognition, let alone sketched. Nice job on this outer planet!
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Orion XTi10 f/4.7
Orion XTi8 f/5.9
Meade NGC 70mm f/10
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My Sketch Gallery
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A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top.
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frank5817
Post Laureate
Reged: 06/13/06
Posts: 3007
Loc: Illinois
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Frank,
Nice work.  Neptune is well placed among 7th and 8th magnitude stars for easy locating. With a transparent night you should be able to pull in Triton too with a 8" inch scope.
Have you used Sky and Telescope's Triton Tracker on-line?http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/javascript/triton_tracker/index.html
Frank5817
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Tommy5
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/28/04
Posts: 1382
Loc: Chicagoland
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Very nice planetary sketch,neptune is indeed a cool planet to find and observe.
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CarlosEH
Post Laureate
Reged: 01/19/05
Posts: 3082
Loc: Pembroke Pines, Broward County...
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A nice observation of Neptune. This bluish gas giant floats at the edge of the solar system waiting for explorers to seek it out as we do. Thank you for sharing it with us all.
Carlos
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xfile101
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/08/07
Posts: 738
Loc: Ocean Gate, NJ
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Quote:
With a transparent night you should be able to pull in Triton too with a 8" inch scope.
Actually never thought about Triton, guess I thought it would be beyond limiting magnitude, but I see I am incorrect. I will look out for this one next chance I get. Thanks Frank and everyone for the compliments.
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Orion XT8I
Celestron 114EQ Firstscope
Meade 70mm
Astroscan
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rolandlinda3
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/24/06
Posts: 1596
Loc: Crozet VA 22932
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Nice finding-an-object and sketch. Roland
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Special Ed
Post Laureate
Reged: 05/18/03
Posts: 3479
Loc: Greenbrier Co., WV 38N, 80W
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Nice sketch, xfile. It's very satisfying to locate these distant planets. If I can make a suggestion, the next step could be to revisit Neptune after several days and plot its new location against the background stars. If you didn't wait too long, it would probably still be in the same FOV of your sketch. I made a widefield image of Capricorn 4 years ago and Neptune was in the constellation then--sure gives one a good sense of how distant Neptune is to see that it is still in Cap in your sketch.
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Michael Rosolina
8" f/10 Orange Tube SCT
4.25" f/4.2 Astroscan Reflector
SVP 3.6" f/13.6 CA Reflector
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My CN Gallery
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NyxAither
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 09/11/07
Posts: 774
Loc: Arlington VA
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Nice sketch! I have an xt8i also but I've never seen Neptune. How well does the locater work on it? What do I need to do to find it?
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Thomas
Orion XT8i
Orion 80-T Refractor
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markseibold
sage
Reged: 01/19/08
Posts: 444
Loc: Portland Oregon
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Xfile (Frank)
Nice "sketch". I was hoping that you indicated what medium you used. I am guessing Photoshop. You have rendered it very accurate. I have sent it onto to others and local friends who do not know about the CN sketch site here. You have made an excellent reference here for those who have never observed Neptune.
Yes, Frank is right, you should look for Triton on your next observe. Also see Uranus as several moons are easily visible in medium amateur scopes. Uranus is a khaki green disc and a little larger.
Mark
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xfile101
professor emeritus
Reged: 12/08/07
Posts: 738
Loc: Ocean Gate, NJ
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Mark,
Actually used Gimp on that one. I based it off the paper sketch I made. Normally I use Paintshop but have been playing a bit more with Gimp. I am very flattered that you have sent it on to others,   that was very nice and unexpected. This was more of a "quickie" sketch as opposed to aesthetically pleasing sketch. I used these more for pinpointing these harder to find planets (to make sure I seeing what I "think" I'm seeing) then cross reference in Stellarium. I have one for Pluto too but still unsure if I have that correct. I need to wait about another week to see if the "dot" that I think is Pluto moves As for Uranus, yes, that is next on the agenda, need to wait for the Moon to subside and have Uranus get a bit higher, currently it is hiding behind some trees.
NyxAither,
The locater came to my rescue! I have a hard time starhopping in this area as my LP pretty much washes out all of Capricorn and Aquarius so I don't have many reference stars here. The locater is very accurate, it put me dead bang on Neptune. Once you get it in the FOV you can't miss it, it's and aquamarine colored star. Pump up the mag and the star becomes an obvious disk!
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Orion XT8I
Celestron 114EQ Firstscope
Meade 70mm
Astroscan
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