by Shneor Sherman
Alvin, sorry you missed it. The sign for Brockaman Mill Road has had most of the lettering erased, just the two Ls at the and and another letter are left on the sign. But you did not miss much, except for the return of the Fiddletown cat, which seemed to be looking for Randy. Very affectonate to the point of being a pest. That was the most noteworth event of the evening, with the exception of some bright Geminids, one of which was spectacular - several meteors coming from a single point in Gemine shooting off in different directions siuultaneously.
The sky was 6/10 seeing and 5/10 transparency at best. Although when I arrived around 5:20, the sky seemed very promising, it shortly clouded over. Got some quick views of M27, M57, Saturn just to warm up (and it was very cold and damp, with a bit of wind). It was so bad that Jim and Jane and I decided to nap for awhile, around 9:30. I awakened about 11:30, and most of the sky appeared to be clear, but the visibility was poor. Nevetheless, we made the most of it and observed during the course of the next 3 hours. I viewed M79, NGC1535, Thor's Helmet (also known as the Duck Nebula) with a UHC, the Eskimo Nebula, M81, M82, M108, M97, M109, M65, M66, M63, M106, NGC3628, NCG3607. None were too good in appearance. I left the area at 3:30 a.m.
The 10 a.m. forecast at weather underground says it will be clear at Fiddletown tonight. All other forecasts say that transparency will be extremely poor. I'll keep checking...anyone have observing plans for tonight?