Like the day before skies were clear! You can read the report of the day before here:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8242
Skies were clear so out I went again. The 15cm
SW f/5 Achromat is doing overtime.
A bit more open clusters this evening. With Gemini high up I started there (not after having had a quick glance at M42 of course) Some nice open clusters came by.
NGC 2355,
NGC 2395, NGC2331,
NGC 2311 and
NGC 2129. The last one was a beauty because of the soft glow of unresolved stars in the background. It should not be a surprise that NGC2420, Eskimonebula
NGC 2392 and very nice planetary
NGC 2371 formed my final act in the Gemini playground for the evening.
I made a rough sketch of it at the telescope, and finished it inside.When I mumble a "SOW" behind the telescope, it is quite beautiful. This was a SOW, I assure you.
Canes Venatici made sure there was enough distraction in the form of some galaxies: beautiful M63 the Sunflower and M106.
NGC 5353, NGC5354 and NGC5005 took care of practicing in averted vision.
In Monoceros I "found" a little
gem. Another "SOW!". After a few attempts to sketch it behind the telescope, I gave up. Orientation of diverse stars went wrong several times. Sketching complex open clusters behind the telescope is an art by itself, quite different from sketching faint fuzzies with only a few accompanying stars, like I am used to. So I took the failed sketches inside to finish them there with some cribbing. Somehow I felt the urge to sketch the beautiful cluster anyhow, with or without cheating...so here it is.
Click on it for a better impression.