I had an enjoyable night on Saturday at FP. I was using my 13.1" f/4.5 Dob. Eyepieces of choice that night were the 22mm Pano and 12mm Nagler. Here are the objects I found and my notes, as taken from TheSky's log feature. The most enjoyable part of the evening was spent searching for galaxies in western parts of Ursa Major and Draco (which end is that?).
I didn't log M42 and the Flame Nebula. I observed M42 early in the evening to check collimation on the Trap. Before switching to high power, the nebula was exquisite. There was a great deal of detail in the Flame. We also tried for the Horsehead and could detect the background nebulosity as well as some mottling, but no clear indentation where the head should have been. An H-Beta filter would probably have done the job.
******* 1/8/00, 9:01 PM ******* NGC 1980 Nebula low brightness. Constellation Ori Size (mins) 14.0 FP sw lot, cleard up nicely. Seeing quite good, 7/10 or even 8/10. This is just a haze around that bright star. ******* 1/8/00, 9:12 PM ******* IC342 Spiral Galaxy Magnitude: 9.1 Size (mins) 21.2 x 20.7 Able to detect hazy core next to string of four or five stars, just to the east of but also surrounding them. ******* 1/8/00, 9:12 PM ******* NGC2768 Elongated galaxy with bright core.Other ID: UGC4821 Magnitude:10.8 Size (mins) 8.1 x 4.3 Very nice, bright core, elongated "wings", makes nice eqi tri with two nearby field stars. 22 pano. ******* 1/8/00, 9:12 PM ******* NGC2683 Very elongated galaxy, dusty, bright core.Other ID: UGC4641 Magnitude:10.4 Size (mins) 9.3 x 2.2 Very nice! Long and thin, "needle" galaxy. Bright, with some detail in there. Tried 9mm, a bit much. 12mm Nag, could see much more elongation on ends. Maybe teasing hints of dust but nothing I can hold or describe. ******* 1/8/00, 9:55 PM ******* M78 NGC 2068 Reflection nebula bright. Constellation Ori Magnitude: 8.0 Size (mins) 8.0 Fairly bright but a little difficult to find due to lack of field stars. Clear dark cutoff to the north (unless I've got dirs reversed) ******* 1/8/00, 9:55 PM ******* NGC2959 Round galaxy close companion.Other ID: UGC5202 Magnitude:13.7 Size (mins) 1.3 x 1.3 Found this guy, along with the other m81 neighbors. This one was a tad difficult but easy to hold directly once spotted, in both the 22 pano (easier) and the 12 nag (more difficult, a tad more shape, no comp). ******* 1/8/00, 9:55 PM ******* NGC2985 Round galaxy with bright core.Other ID: UGC5253 Magnitude:11.2 Size (mins) 4.5 x 3.6 Fairly bright, is NOT around a mag6.x star! Although there is a star there. The next one down is big and dim! This one is bright, some hint of detail, med small. ******* 1/8/00, 9:55 PM ******* NGC3027 Elongated galaxy with bright core.Other ID: UGC5316 Magnitude:12.2 Size (mins) 4.3 x 2.0 Bigger than above and DIM! Amorphous blob. ******* 1/8/00, 9:55 PM ******* NGC3065 Round galaxy close companion.Other ID: UGC5375 Magnitude:12.9 Size (mins) 1.7 x 1.6 Very nice with 66 comp. Small, somewhat dim, star in it. ******* 1/8/00, 9:55 PM ******* NGC3066 Round galaxy close companion.Other ID: UGC5379 Magnitude:13.1 Size (mins) 1.1 x 1.0 In field with above. Smaller, slightly dimmer? ******* 1/8/00, 9:55 PM ******* NGC3147 Round galaxy with bright core.Other ID: UGC5532 Magnitude:11.4 Size (mins) 3.9 x 3.4 Mod dim, star near center, round with hint of round extension. ******* 1/8/00, 11:29 PM ******* M108 NGC3556 Very elongated galaxy,dust & bright knots.Other ID: UGC6225 Magnitude:10.7 Size (mins) 8.7 x 2.3 Very long, two dust lanes about equi from center coming in from sides; star embedded. ******* 1/8/00, 11:29 PM ******* M97 Owl Nebula NGC 3587 Planetary nebula irregular. Constellation UMa Magnitude:11.2 Size (mins) 3.2 Big and bright, hint of one of the eyes (west one?); otherwise, no detail ******* 1/8/00, 11:29 PM ******* NGC3147 Round galaxy with bright core.Other ID: UGC5532 Magnitude:11.4 Size (mins) 3.9 x 3.4 Caught it, don't recall details. ******* 1/8/00, 11:29 PM ******* NGC3155 Round galaxy.Other ID: NGC3194 Magnitude:13.9 Size (mins) 1.4 x 1.0 Fairly large and dim, roundish, no detail. Able to hold with direct vision. ******* 1/8/00, 11:29 PM ******* NGC3183 Elongated galaxy.Other ID: NGC3218 Magnitude:12.6 Size (mins) 2.3 x 1.4 Correction on previous: extremely dim, small. This one was larger, spread out, roundish. ******* 1/8/00, 11:29 PM ******* NGC2776 Round galaxy.Other ID: UGC4838 Magnitude:12.0 Size (mins) 3.1 x 2.8 Dim (conditions were worsening due to incoming haze), amorphous blob.