Bill's Sky

Moon rise over the Sapphire Mountains, 18:16 MST, 26 Jan 2024   Time flies. I hadn't realized how long it had been since I posted last. Hopefully I will not have as long a lapse again! The image above was a quick snap taken with my Samsung A42 5G, just using default settings. We had just returned from running errands and picking up some groceries. I looked over, and the Moon was illuminating that lower layer of clouds from behind. I wanted to get a picture of that, but wasn't quick enough. I did try to be a little "artistic" by using the pine tree in front of our house to frame the shot. If I was being really artistic I would crop the image so that lens reflection lower and was cut out. I was thinking about getting the telescope out, since the temperature was still slightly above freezing, but the sky was 90% clouded over in another thirty minutes. I haven't done any observing since my last entry. The primary reason has been weather. Not many clear nights, and col...

  No observing so far since the last entry, but some notes on process. I have been reading a lot of information in the Cloudy Nights sketching forum and Stargazers Lounge sketching forum . They both have links to some very good resources. One of the resources  mentioned a lot is the book pictured above. I was lucky enough to be gifted that book, along with a set of good drawing pencils, some white graphite pencils, and a pad of black sketching paper. Based on the infomation in the book, I added to that kit by picking up a small set of three different sized blending stumps, a gum eraser, a pink pearl eraser, a Prismacolor white pastel pencil, and a sandpaper stick pencil sharpener. We already have some small hand held sharpeners, and I thought I still had an eraser shield.  Turns out I don't anymore, so I will pick one up next time I get to the office supply store.  In playing around with the black pad and the graphite pencils, I had some uneven results. The graphite...