Dragonfly and a tree

[tripleped]

Had a rare mild temp night recently so I took out the 10” Dob and saw 2 lovely clusters I’d never viewed before - got the tip from Feb. Sky and Telescope observing section. 

1) NGC 457 (Cass). Many names- ET, owl, dragonfly. For me the dragonfly really struck me. I clearly saw the 2 sparkly eyes with pencil thin body and wings. Didn’t take much imagination to see it - it was so vivid and sharp I could almost imagine hearing the little thing flying around up 
 

 

[tripleped]

Sorry! Accidentally hit post before I was done!  Anyway, it was a sight to behold! Felt like those little eyes were staring right at me 

also saw Ngc 2264 (Monocer). Xmas tree cluster. No imagination needed here either- really does look like a Christmas tree! 
Both marvelous clusters and this was in Bortle 8 conditions. 

A memorable night of winter cluster hunting. 

[Gfamily]

Yes indeed NGC457 is a great cluster.  

The telescopes I started with were Maks and SCTs, so I missed out on the delights of many open clusters.  I have a particular affinity for NGC457 as it was one of the first OCs I look at with a short ED refractor that I had borrowed while staying at Astrofarm France. I was using the scope on my GTi mount and one of the "Tonights Best" was the Dragonfly Cluster - not one I was familiar with. 

Under the dark sky with a crisp contrasty scope it was a real delight, easily visible as a dragonfly, and as it was rising at the time, with the diagonal I was using  it looked like a dragonfly as opposed to an upside down Owl or ET. 

"Ah, so that's why people like refractors" was my take-away thought