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Ah, where to begin this observing report? The weather here in Sonoita AZ has been pretty good or astronomy: clear, humidity in the low teens, and the dew point around 25 degrees or so. So, with these conditions, another local Sonoita astronomer decided to drag his 32 inch f4.5 telescope out for a little run.
When I arrived he was already set up and looking around. I climbed the ladder (stopping 1/2 way for oxygen) and had a look. Why it was M31, the galaxy in Andromeda. It looked a little different so I moved the scope around and realized that I was looking at the core only. I was able to see notches and streaks in the dust lanes. M33 did indeed show its pinwheel shape but more interesting were the hydrogen regions in the arms. I was able to see easily 6 with more coming and going with variations in seeing. The Vail was almost beyond description, somewhat three dimensional, with sections looking somewhat pale green with slight hints of red. The small planetary in the globular cluster M15 was visible as were three stars in the center of M57. I was able to detect the little IC galaxy near M57 as well. NGC7009 (Saturn Nebula) was a vivid green, with variations of texture in the "rings" or extensions. NGC 7293, the Helix showed some filamentary structure inside of the ring itself, looking like a dim photograph. The area around the galaxy NGC 1275 in Persues was filled with galaxies, literally more than I could count (and yes, I can count past 10 if I use my toes!!!).
The real treat though, and objects not easily visible from central CA, the galaxies of Sculptor. NGC 253 filled about two fields of view and I had to sweep with the telescope to see the whole thing. Dust lanes, knots, brighter regions in the arms were easily visible. NGC 55 was another treat, looking for all the world like a smaller version of NGC 253. Even the elusive NGC 300 started to show some evidence of its spiral structure.
More objects were viewed but these are the highlights after nearly a week's gap between observing and writing this brief report.