The wonderfully dedicated and acutely talented Finnish deep sky observer and celestial-sketcher Jaakko Saloranta (astro website here, and nice picture with his scope here) has just sent me my "Christmas Present" for 2007, an original signed and dedicated observing card documenting his study of open cluster NGC 2420 in Gemini (shown here from the Deep Sky Survey picture.) Jaakko has given me permission to share it with my readers, and has answered some of my questions about it:

• The sketch is wonderful; thanks for the dedication. It's particularly interesting to me as it does not show the complicated preparation and planning that -- for one -- Jeremy Perez shows on his website tutorial about sketching, where he uses a grid for the placement of the stars. Is this picture simply the 'raw' result of your work at the scope? Not a copy or revision, but the actual art work you did as you looked?

Not quite. That is the final version. I drew two raw ones at the telescope: Stars not round, corrections etc. Then I take the real sketching paper and "move" (re-sketch) it there. With this, the stars should be pretty well placed and round and so on.

• English is used here, I presume, so that I could understand it. Are most of your sketch cards done in your native Finnish instead?

I have used only English since... 2001 or something. No reason to use Finnish, you have to upload them in English anyway!

• I'm so delighted that you sent this to me that I'd like to put this card in on my website; it this OK?

That sketch is yours and you use it as you see fit. I have the original but I won't add it to my own home page or upload it anywhere. I'm holding that original for you for the time being. All the presents have been opened and Christmas is over! I got some presents.. books (Neil deGrasse Tyson's latest but had to order if from the US so I don't actually have it yet) and the usual clothing. Nothing fancy but that's fine -- didn't ask for anything!

• Thanks; and 'Ho, Ho, Ho! Hauskaa Joulua!' -- srw