by Glenn Hirsch
I was the only one fool enough to go last night but I was desperate for photons and had a rare night off from teaching.
Arrived 6pm to howling wind and boiling dark clouds which cleared just after sunset to a beautiful dark sky. Seeing was HORRIBLE for planets but ok for hopping through Canis Majoris, Monoceros, Orion and Gemini. Winds would blow for 5 minutes on, 15-20 minutes off.
I could see M46-47 with the naked eye and then using an 8" dobs and Meade 24mm Superwide, was able to see NGC 2158 next to M35 in Gemini. I can now find the Eskimo nebula easily (thanks to Bruce Jensen who helped find it for the first time last January).
M42 was fantastic. Also was able to detect the nebula ring in the Rosette for the first time. Curiously, an O-III filter didn't enhance the view. I need an eyepiece giving a wider field.
When the winds gusted, I switched to tripod mounted binocs for views surrounding Delta Canis Majoris - noticed these strings of (almost) perfectly spaced 6th-7th magnitude stars looped around the bottom of the constellation - all seasoned with some very red stars.
Wind began to blow steady by 9pm so I gave up. But I enjoyed the solitude and had a great time!