Time: 2008 August 12 0400-1100 UT.(Monday night MDT) Location: Puddle Valley in west desert. equiptment: 10x50 binoculars and unaided eyes conditions: Gibbous moon sets at 2 am MDT clear, calm. Warm early droping to the 40's at dawn. Transparency was hazy with the bright moon but improved to very good by morning astro twilight. Main attraction was the Perseid meteor shower but the night was dark enough for some stunning deep sky views with 10x50 binoculars. The Helix ngc7293 was huge and easily held with direct vision. ngc3077 the companion to M81/M82 was easy. ngc6992,6995 the eastern part of the Veil Nebula jumped right out. Nice open clusters ngc1528 in PER and ngc663 and Stock 2 in CAS. Also visited the usual suspects, M13,M92,M11,M31 etc, M33, M27. The Perseids were entertaining but not stunning. At midnight I was seeing as many sporatics as shower members. Things picked up as the night wore on to an estimated 4 per minute at twilight. As Orion rose up the zodiacal light was visable through the ecliptic from Gemini to Taurus. A very good night out. DT