Surprise! A starry plethora of points of light. Hmmm it might be possible to enjoy the
So I grabbed the 15x70's and let my eyes dark adapt for a few minutes, enjoying a balmy 46 degree night.
Naked eye, there was a starry jewelbox floating in the South (the Pleiades). Turning the glasses on it I counted maybe 55 stars visible in the cluster. I was hoping to make out some nebulosity around Merope and Alcyone but nothing was seen. The Hyades V-shaped cluster was next, a loose
Looking towards the zenith and just under the top of the deck overhang I counted three large fuzzy objects which of course I have seen before, M36, M37, and M38.
After that I panned around a bit, noting the movement of some wispy clouds (ground fog) which had arisen above one of the two nearby lakes. This haziness is especially noticeable on clear and partly cloudy nights, sometimes spoiling the rare clear night for a ground-based observer.
Looking East, I could see Orion's belt, or at least Alnitak I believe through some cedar branches. With that, having seen just about all of the bino objects visible in the bit of sky available, I came back in to send this report off into the aether. Since it's nearly 3:30 local time I am going to chill and then check the skies again at 4:30 to see what has moved into position. Hopefully then I'll take out the 102mm XLT for a spin. Goodnight, all.
Edit: It is now 4:36 AM and mostly foggy but still managed a view of the fabulous Orion Nebula, M42 and M43 - M78 further up Orion's body however was not visible.