Messier madness, I’m back

[Marvin Jenkins]

I am back in the game after finally banishing my go to woes, thanks to all those that helped with my long lat questions.

last night was incredibly clear and the seeing pretty good considering the early start and hot day. It was one of those nights I could have slept next to the mount and started viewing at two am, but house renovations mean I have to work today and not mess up the electrics.

Started at ten after careful polar alignment and three star alignment. This time I nearly hit the first star dead in the cross hairs, big relief after days of the mount not even finding the right constellation.

M54, M55, M19, NGC 6946, M40, M3, M6, M7, M13, M24, M28, M34, M76, M92. All these objects were new to me. I do have detailed notes but no time this morning to write a detailed report (remember the electrics). The order may seem a little random but I was looking down the M list and checking off ones I hadn’t seen before in number order

 Finished off the session at midnight with my first look at Neptune in the east, didn’t look at all blue to me, but was definitely the gas giant as I checked it against Stellarium.

I feel so happy to have had a clear night like that coinciding with a new moon. Went to sleep dreaming of galaxies.

Marvin