Hi friends, please forgive me for accidentally sending a blank message. Here's what I wanted to say. Half a dozen fans of the night sky gathered at the Wedge Friday night -- rather, I should say five actually gathered while one standoffish fellow (I) set up in a separate location. I wanted to spare the others from the irritation of my computer screen ruining their night vision -- something that happened to me repeatedly that night. But I did walk over to join Mike briefly around 2 a.m. Saturday, while I was taking a 20-minute exposure. I tried out my new Meade Deep Space Imager, not to take pictures directly with it but as an autoguider. Earlier, I had used the DSI to take pictures of Jupiter and Saturn and they were awful, far worse than the Meade Lunar and Planetary Imager. The DSI did a pretty good job tracking but I definitely learned a lot by the experiment: 1) never shoot lengthy exposures without using a wedge!!! 2) with my off-axis guider, I need to improve the accuracy of the parfocal eyepiece used to help focus the camera. 3) The parfocal eyepiece for the DSI also could be better adjusted. 4) Don't fiddle with the laptop and cause it to momentarily stop work in the middle of an exposure, as the guide star will have moved and that will cause a double-exposure. 4) Be more adventuresome in looking around for a guide star, then after it is acquired, get the view centered in the camera. 5) You can't get a good image of M104 with a 20-minute film exposure. It was a wonderful night -- dark, clear, only a few episodes of chilling breezes so that the air was mostly calm. I was so intent on learning more about photography that I never used the telescope just for viewing, something I now regret. But I did look through the focus port of my off-axis guider, and the views were stunning. -- The Orion Nebula was spectacular, as always. That thing never ceases to boggle my easily-boggled mind. -- I vastly enjoyed looking at M104, whose dust lane was pronounced. The edges of the dark lane are not smooth and I could see its irregularities. I hiked over to the main group -- although it took maybe seven minutes during new moon, I had no trouble seeing the dirt road because of the bright starlight (and possibly a little light pollution from the Huntington plant.) There, Mike let me look at the Sombrero again through a powerful Dob, another thrilling view. -- M65 and M66 were interesting, although not as exciting as the M51 or the Sombrero. -- I had a glimpse of M81 and M82 but because of the difficulty I experienced looking for a good guide star, and because I had seen them so many times before, I didn't hang around there long. -- It was odd to see Arcturus almost directly overhead. I guess what was unusual was that this is March and the dipper's tail pointed up -- the reason being, I suppose, that I usually don't stay up almost all night looking at astronomical wonders. -- Most astonishing was M51, which I viewed about 4 a.m. The thought that came to mind was, "I could drown in the Whirlpool." It was like looking at the photo on the cover of one of Burnham's volumes -- just not as contrasty. I could trace the swirls deep into the larger galaxy. This was a lovely and mysterious sight. Next time I should take the time to enjoy it through the telescope unencumbered by an OAG. -- Best wishes, Joe