In Honor Of The Hearty
David North

Since I didn't think my feeble self would stand an allniter, I decided to just go up to The Peak. Very nice night; warmish for March with outstanding transparency; almost no wind, reasonably steady but not great for planets.

In honor of the more hearty among you, I played the Naked Eye Messier Marathon, a game Bill Arnett and I started on Friday night. Kinda fun. Got 31, 34, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46 (maybe), 47, maybe 50... then went on to other things.

Definitely saw rich color in M42 in that sky, and got an even better view of the Rosette through a 6" f/4.8 with a 32mm & OIII. Really neat; you could see the "rose petals."

A nice night at Coulter, almost a party, since the Winter Wimps are starting to show back up and there was all the enthusiasm that goes along with getting a fix after a period of photon deprivation... but, as usual, the earlier even than me crapout so folks can wake up for the Morning Bopp.

I'm glad it's moving to the evening now.

Saw it easily Friday night with Bill; Saturday evening it was a tad more difficult, but Eagle Eye Gleason spotted it a tad earlier than we did the previous day.

It was Roland Christen Memorial Night behind Ranger Rick's; five or six largish APs in a row, including two seven inchers. Rod's was the only one actually sticking light into eyeballs when I was there, and he was nice about showing some stuff.