Had the idea that I might actually get out on a "school night" to observe but as events presented themselves, my observing session tonight was, while not what I had intended, turned out to be a lovely time out. (Just a note that there are no radical, earth shattering discoveries on my part here...)
Voyager and Delta Flyer are still in the truck from this past weekend at LSA so I stuck with binoculars as, I'll admit, I was just plain lazy to unpack everything!
Anyway, here's what I observed and some comments:
Instrument: 9x63 Orion Little Giants
M42 - I know, it's always on my winter list! But I just love it. Tonight with relatively clear and steady atmosphere, it looked more brilliant than in the past few weeks. Heading up around the belt portion, I saw a nice "S" shape asterism. Kind of looked like a string of pearls just meandering around a couple of diamonds that were casually tossed upon a table.
The Moon - wonderful phase to observe. I'm still learning the various mare and mountain ranges. The detail on the terminator was quite interesting. Don't think I'll ever tire of Luna.
Canis Major - Stopped in to look at M41. Just could make it out with the streetlight right in front of it. I find it by first finding the three stars making a "V" to the left of it. Those three stars according to my night sky observer's guide are listed as double stars. I'll have to see if I can split them some night before Canis takes a dive to the other hemisphere. Sirius is groovy to look at as it helps me adjust my optics focus so I can make sure it's dead-on.
M45 - Can't get enough of this group. As with M42, I start my sessions with a good look at these stars just so I can get in the zone.
Gemini - buzzed over to M35 and it looked OK. I've seen it look better but again, that dreaded streetlight wasn't helping too much, but it was fun to look up and see how fast I could locate it.
Taurus - Aldebaran and the Hyades - spent some time of these items. Sometimes I'm amazed by the detailed little lights that one can see in an urban, light polluted setting. ALdebarab looked rather orange, more so than naked eye. The Hyades are a collection of stars that are garnering more interest to me. (Not to say I don't like them, just haven't spent any great length of time looking at them really.)
Yes, it's a short list, but I had to make it a short night. However, it would have been a shame to not at least get out and glance at these wonders.
Now I do plan to get up early enough to (hopefully) catch that super nova in Saggitarrius in the morning...that would be totally groovy.
If you went out tonight hope your experience was as pleasant as mine.