Knocked the dust off...

The fall like weather and clear skies was quite the motivator. For the longest time, I just couldn't get excited enough to set up the scope when the night time temps were in the 90's and the mosquitoes being on high alert for sweaty humans.
Our high today was only in the mid 70's with low humidity and blue bird skies. It was gorgeous! I knew it would be a nice night for some star gazing. But unfortunetly the good ole moon was 45% illuminated. Oh well, I was just happy to look through an eyepiece for once.

So, what did I look at? Mostly moonlite and a bright laptop screen...lol
Last winter I replaced my 6 year old lappy with a new quad core sporting Windows 7. The telescope control software I use doesn't seem to like the latest windows version. I need to spend some time researching a fix. Anybody want to donate a good used lappy with Windows XP? ;)

Eventually I was able to slew the scope on a few gems... First on the list was Comet Gerrard. I was surprised how bright this deep sky traveler really was, even with moon trying to get in the way. Next on the list was M27. The Dumbbell Nebula, always huge and bright as can be. And the best for last, M13. What a spectacular globular cluster! It hopelessly fills the eyepiece with it's countless shimmering stars spilling, magnificently beautiful!

Goodnight moon, better luck next time...

Sent from my iPhone