What’s new ?
2011 07 01
A lot of new features since last summer!
First of all, as I said, I published numerous drawings with their sketch that I did "on the ladder". Some others drawings allow to compare the same object seen in two different scopes, most of them in my 10" LX200 and 25" dobson Obsession. Others compare the same object with the same aperture, but seen by two different observers. In a word, many ways that will help you to have an idea of what you might see in your own scope.
Since last year, it’s an amount of nearly 100 drawings that I added, including about 30 Hickson groups, and two dozens of Shakhbazian groups, and finally an overall quantity of 600 drawings that you can display.
Also during last year, I moved from "Le Petit Telle" to "L‘Observatoire des Baronnies Provençales", both at the border of Haute Provence and southern Alps. The site is very good, and skies are very dark, with SQM often better than 21.80. Thanks to this, I was able to observe and draw exceptional targets as Sh2-240 or the Cone.
2010 06 02
Since October 2008, I have had the opportunity to observe numerous sites with my T635 and, more importantly, in April I spent 10 days in Namibia in my usual look out of Tivoli, watching the skies through my Dobson Obsession T 508. I’m planning on integrating around 50 new pictures over the next weeks, about 15 of them are already on line. Some of them are re-observations of astral objects that I discovered during my 4 earlier stays in Tivoli. As I have noted previously, each new observation yields more precise, detailed transcriptions. This definitely corroborates the theory that astronomic sketches are indispensable to perceive an object in all its detail.
For this reason, I thought it made sense to include the “discovery” drawings, alongside with the “confirmation” sketches, providing of course they were observed with the same instrument under similar conditions. In this case, all the objects were discovered, then confirmed, in Tivoli, with a T 508 in excellent quality skies. I’m sure that all observers will agree that interest develops and increases with the frequency of observation. All the observed objects are grouped under the same key words (Discovery vs Confirmation) I‘m planning on integrating another element of comparison: as I’m unable to produce a neat drawing first time round and I need to start with a rough draft, I often wondered if it would be interesting to add it to the finished work. Serge Vieillard, a reference in this area, gave me the answer: I vastly prefer the first draft to the final drawing. Why? Because I can find in it, all the details of an observation. When you look at the rough draft, you notice things, which often have disappeared from the final sketch, most especially the conditions under which the observation was made. To my way of thinking, the most important is the quality and quantity of information. “Beautiful” pictures may be gratifying but can’t be an end in themselves, only the means to convey information. The goal is to represent reality as closely as possible, using observation, analysis, notes, sketches, as well as a good encoding system. The actual technique is secondary, a simple accessory an advantage, albeit a relatively unnecessary one. As far as I’m concerned, sketch notes should be brief, further explanations are given under HELP and ABBREVIATIONS. Under MEANS and TECHNIQUES I have included additional information concerning the elaboration of the final picture. All the objects are grouped under the key words (Sketch vs Picture)
2009 10 08
Lots of new pictures these last two months, over 25 and all quite different! Some very popular objects such as M 106, M 108, NGC 2440 and so on, tiny little constellations like Hickson and 
even Shakhbazian, as well as pictures made with different instruments Meade LX200 254mm for example and, of course, Dobson Obsession 635mm.
Following up on my previous plans, I decided to publish sketches of objects observed by different people using the same observation instruments. There are already a dozen of them, pictures and captions, available by clicking on Key Words (1 Diam vs 2 Obs). Futhermore, I have included pictures of objects observed through different lenses, in the hope of giving a more precise idea of the way a galaxy or a constellation is revealed progressively to the eye and in which ways you can expect objects to appear through your own telescope. Here also, I have made a dozen comparative images available, all corresponding captions can be read by clicking on Key Words (1 Obs vs 2 Diam)
2009 08 05
I have added 10 pictures of observations made during the new moon in January 2009. Some of the objects are particularly interesting, the Septet of Copeland for example or the planetary 
nebulae EGB 6, which, to the best of my knowledge had never been observed. Others, M 51 or M 97 had already received attention through instruments of different diameters, with pictures, which have already been published on this site. It is now possible to compare the results obtained with different instruments. Bit by bit, I am planning on publishing pictures of the same object, side by side, viewed through instruments of different diameters (for example M 51 with the Meade LX 200/254mm and the T1.20m from the Haute Provence observatory, or Hickson 56 observed with the same T1.20m and the Dobson Obsession 635 mm and so on), or the same object observed with the same instrument by two different people (for example almost all the objects observed by Serge Vieillard and myself) The goal of the two approaches being to enable a visual comparison of different perceptions, depending on the eye, or the diameter of the objective
2009 07 15
My February 2009 observation targets using the 1.20m telescope of the Haute Provence Observatory have been published in the July-August “Astronomy Magazine”, others, which appeared in “Extreme Sky” in July 2009, can now be viewed on my site, a total of 18 pictures and summaries. They are accessible under the key word T1.20m and appear together on the same page. I have changed the filing system of my pictures, they now appear under the object reference such as constellation, the name under which it usually appears (for example M 104 Virgo, Sombrero Galaxy) This way, access to the object will be made easier, even if you only know its common name, and all the sketches of the same constellation will appear in the same group.
2009 04 30:
All the objects of my sketches from 1999 to the end of 2008 have been entered; can be viewed:
– 80 out of 86 planetary nebula of the Abell catalogues.
– 8 out of 15 globular clusters from the Palomar catalogue.
– a dozen proto planetary nebulas such as the Egg nebula, the Silkworm nebula, the Red Rectangle nebula, Gomez’s hamburger nebula among other mythical planetary nebulae with evocative names
– almost as many gravitational lenses, the double quasar of the Great Chariot, and the Einstein Cross in Pegasus.
– finally all my Austral sky pictures from 2004, 2006, and 2008 made in Tivoli, Namibia, as well as my 2007 observations from San Pedro in Atacama, Chili, have been made accessible.
Over the next few weeks, I’m planning on uploading the sketches of my January and February 2009 from the Petit Telle with a T 635 mm. However, observations made in March 2009 with a T 1.20m from the Observatory of Haute Provence, will only appear online after publication in the July-August 2009 Astromagazine. The glossary has also been completed.
2009 03 31:
This site was created in March 2009. Although its structure is determined, it is still under construction and shall remain so for several weeks ahead. When it will be finished (actually, it probably never will be, but I mean “when I will have uploaded all the pictures and the data that I plan on now, in 08/2009), it should include 400-500 sketches.
Additionally, I’m planning on including several other files which I made for Guide 8 and Skymap Pro 11 software which I use constantly (see thumbnail “Software”). All the files are of course directed towards the deep sky, the catalogue SECGPN, the Strasbourg Catalogue of Galactic Planetary Nebulae, the WDS, or the Washington Double Stars, and present a much more detailed and precise view of the basic version of Guide 8 or the Hyperleda catalogue which regroup the data of over 1.6 million galaxies.
Jointly with Astro-Magazine, I would like to present the sketches and captions of around 20, 1m20 telescope observations from the Haute Provence Observatory. The publication date will be the same as that of the Asro-magazine issue in which they will appear, most probably next summer. You can see that I have a lot of work to look forward to. Thank you for your interest and I hope to see you back soon!
So, this way you’ll come back to visit my site often, to get the latest news….