Seen through a 4-inch scope, NGC 6934 appears symmetrical with a bright, concentrated core. Through a 10-inch scope, the cluster extends 3' and appears mottled with unresolved stars. At 225x with a 16-inch scope, the cluster becomes slightly elongated north to south with a dozen or more resolved stars, including a strand of suns running northeast to southwest within its southern outer halo.
Because NGC 6934 has an intense spackling of both unresolved and resolved stars, you’ll want to build up the stippled layers with the tortillon before plotting the resolved stars with a graphite pencil.
Tortillons are available in several sizes, and they work well when you create detailed areas in your sketches. For the best results, sharpen and clean them often with a block of sandpaper, and practice your stippling technique before sketching live at the eyepiece.
Do you have a sketching question? Contact me at
erikarix1@gmail.com.