On the whole, last night's session was a study in teasing and frustration. Though I wish John Gleason no ill, I was really a little relieved to hear that it was damp and foggy at FPK as well - otherwise I think the first announced TAC event on the peninsula might have also been the last.

Thanks to a fortuitous wrong turn, which put me at the slightly drier north parking lot along with Bill Arnett and away from the main group, I was able to get in 30 minutes or so of observing between twilight and fogfall. In that time I managed to track down M74 and M77 for the first time, and got my first look at M103 (oc in Cass) under decent skies. I had seen it from the city and thought it unremarkable, but now it is one of my favorites. It is beautifully situated in the winter Milky Way and contains a pretty pair of contrasting orange and blue stars.

Another target that didn't disappoint was M33. At 47x in the 8" dob, the star-forming region NGC604 was easy at the edge of the galaxy. I could also detect one spiral arm, the one leading from NGC604 back to the nucleus. This observation was much more difficult, and I really wasn't sure of it until I got home and checked the pictures in Burnham's: it appeared exactly as I had remembered it, with that arm much more defined than the one on the opposite side of the galaxy.

I don't mean to "rub it in" with this report, but rather show that when the fog stays away, this is really a decent site. Not in the same league as FPK, but worth keeping available for short sessions on Sunday or Friday nights at least (Sundays could be especially good because car traffic really dies down on Skyline after 10 PM or so). I wish I knew enough about meteorology to anticipate the fog - I know it's not that way all the time, as I was up there 4 or 5 nights last winter and only had one night that was really wet and hazy, and never saw fog like we had it last night. Talking to the rangers would probably help, since they spend so much time up there. Next time I'm hiking on the peninsula I'll ask if there's something they see in the SF or SJ weather reports that translates to fog on the ridge.

At any rate, it was a good night for me, not for the 30 min of observing but because I got to meet several members of TAC. At last I have some faces and voices to attach to these email messages! I wish it had been a better night, but enjoyed it anyway and look forward to another evening, under clear skies!

- Matt T