Magnificent sky. Say it again. Magnificent sky. Really, how long do we wait for that opportunity? I had a truly newbie experience – finding objects like a pro. I spent much of the time in Scorpius and Sagittarius, those low in the sky treasures. (I have little gravel indentations in my knees to prove it……) My first coup was finding the Jewel Box in Scorpius – TWICE! It is described as a bright and pretty cluster of stars and, indeed, that is what it turned out to be. M4 by Antares, M70 in Sagitarius came easily but M69 and M54
eluded me. On to M22 and I felt I had accomplished a lot. I ended the evening with the double cluster NGC 869 and 884 in Peresus.
The evening was punctuated with many (Eureka…….) I found it!!
Astronomy wouldn't be astronomy without other astronomers. My thanks to Alan Cameron and Rick Murray for sharing the enthusiasm
and being accomodating to a beginner. Of course, I wouldn't have made these discoveries without being able to use the XT8 club scope,
so thank you for that and my little red finder scope.
On the road by 12:30, encouraged to leave by "eau de moufette." It was AGGGNFA! B