Los Gatos

by Mark Wagner

I did go out last night to observe, but not until 10:45 p.m. when my neighbors decided to turn off their outdoor light (nobody was out in their backyard at any time while the light was on). Using the 8" scope, I hunted down just a couple items... NGC 1907 and NGC 2158. I tried for NGC 2266.

The first two objects were interesting since they are both OC next to big Messier OCs. I found 1907 much easier to see, it is significantly brighter. I was unable to see 2266... I was tired by then and had finished a "coffee"...

I looked at Jupiter and found the seeing to be poor. I also peeked at M42 which is gorgeous as always. In the area I was able to see M43 clearly, NGC 1981, the nebulosity comprising NGC 1977, a glow around a star near IC 1427/28 (or is it NGC 1999?), and had some hints of the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) without a filter.

All views were with a 20 Nagler, other than Jupiter (which stunk with a 7 Nagler).