How was it last night?

Shneor Sherman

The drive up to IHOP from Davis was surprisingly fast, maybe even a record. I arrived at 6:20, was set up by 7, and spend a hour tweaking and tightening parts on my 22" and platform. It's amazing how much can get loose over time!

I observed by myself, as no one else showed up. After dusk, IHOP was unusually dark, although transparency was just average. I has planned on revisiting galaxies in Ursa Major, Bootes and Camelopardalis, but mainly I was again seduced by Leo, Virgo and Coma. I had an excellent view of Saturn early in the evening, followed by one of my favorite planetaries in Gemini, N2371-2, which looked very good both in my Ethos and 9mm NagT6. After that, it was mainly galaxies and Abell clusters in the aforementioned constellations. Around 11:30 to midnight, I noticed that the sky had grown considerably less dark, so I hit some eye candy - globs in Hercules and Scorpius, M57, the Veil, etc. I was hopping conditions would improve per CSC, but they did not so I started to pack at 2. Seeing was average throughout, maybe a little better near the zenith. But I generally could not go higher than about 250x (9mmNag), which wax quite steady. I also hit an Abell in Corona, and some viewing north of Corvis, all very productive.

Clears,
Shneor