More insomniac stargazing

With the first clear night in several weeks beckoning, I set
my alarm for 0030 when I went to bed last night. With sunset
being so late at this time of year, this is about the only way
to do any astronomy...

I hauled my grab-and-go C8 out to the back yard and set
up shop. Jupiter was poking through a gap in the trees, with
a nice view of the Galilean satellites, and the Red Spot
starting its way across.

After Jupiter ducked behind a tree I aligned the DSCs (a
lifesaver in the 'burbs!) and wandered around. My first
deep-sky targets were M27 and M57. I always find M27
to be an excellent demonstration of what a nebula filter
can do: without the filter, it's a grey blur from my back
yard. With the filter, it's the familiar apple core. M57
was a perfect smoke ring in space, while M13 and M92
sparkled just past the meridian.

I suspect if I could figure out how to photograph the
three-dimensional quality M13 has in a telescope the
world would be a much better place. :-)

My latitude, plus trees in the south, don't do much
good to the stuff in Sagittarius, but I tried anyway,
finding M8 hiding behind yet another tree. But M11 lived
up to its name, a spray of stars indeed looking like
a flock of wild ducks flying away. I didn't expect to
see much more than a ratty cluster for M16, and I
didn't. M17 was another matter, with a clear view
through the nebula filter.

I ended the night with some of the extremes: M5 in the
west, and then, almost feeling like a traitor to summer,
M2 and M15, both rising in the east. I had a look at the
waning gibbous moon that had cleared the trees by then,
with the terminator in the Sea of Tranquility, and turned
in about 0200.

I'm at work this morning, trying to keep a low profile.
Yawn.

Laura Halliday VE7LDH "Que les nuages soient notre
Grid: CN89mg pied a terre..."
ICBM: 49 16.05 N 122 56.92 W - Hospital/Shafte