Everyone has a talent 29/12/19

[domstar]

Everyone is good at something, and sitting in the cold with my extra-toasty Christmas socks on and a blanket on my lap, I discovered that I'm extremely proud of my ability to spot M74 the Phantom Galaxy in Pisces. Hours of effort have been rewarded and I was surprised to see it again in my four-inch on the balcony. There are some brighter galaxies that I just can't see but for this one my brain has been trained. I'm not even sure how that works but it does.

As you can guess, the transparency was wonderful on this unforecast clear night. The first in a while. My first mini session was M74, Cetus A and Uranus. Later on I went out again for an Orion session. Rigel was tight and split way out of any glare at 100x. Alnitak and Saif al Jabbar clearly split at 150x. The Orion Nebula was bright white and I lingered for a while. The beauty of the nebula seemed to work against the Trapezium stars and I only got a tiny glimpse of the E star.

Still, a lovely session blowing the cobwebs away.

Hope everyone has a crisp winter night soon.