Salmon Creek, 2/8-9/08

Shneor Sherman

My wife and I, with some good friends who spent a day and a night with us, celebrated some significant personal milestones over a long weekend at Salmon Creek (just north of Bodega Bay). I managed to steal a little time Thursday night for a quick peek through hazy skies at M42, which appeared anemic in my Starblast - although my 4.8mm Nagler did show four stars in the Trapezium, the extent of visible nebulosity was minimal. On Friday night, while my wife and friends were playing Therapy, I snuck out for an hour or so around 9 or 10 pm to find clear and apparently dark skies, and almost no wind.

Unfortunately, in my haste to pack innumerable items, I packed some not-so-useful eyepieces, but the Nagler did nicely. I had nice views of M65 and M66 in Leo, and M81, M82, and M109 in Ursa Major. The view of M82, probably nearly at culmination, was quite good, with the cigar shape very pronounced. I looked for some dimmer objects, but was unable to make them out. In any case, these were the best skies I have seen in months.

Clear skies,
Shneor Sherman