Joe Bauman and I headed out to Lakeside for an observing session and it turned out to be one of the best of the year for me. The conditions were fantastic; no wind, no clouds, very transparent, and good seeing. I was motivated to "make hay while the sun shines", since conditions like this have been pretty rare this year it seems. Altogether I hit 60 objects of which the following were standouts: The Veil, NGC 246 (skull nebula) ; N. A. and Pelican nebulae; NGC 253, and NGC 1535 (little Eskimo, and the central star was plainly seen). Stephan's quintet and the Fornax galaxy cluster were also looking pretty good. Although I have seen the Orion nebula looking better through my scope in the past, it was still filled with detail last night, it was just not high enough in the sky for the real stunning views. The air was steady enough to show very crisp images of Jupiter at 375 power. And Epsilon Lyrae was cleanly split at 104 power (16' dob with and without an off axis mask with a 6" aperture), but could not get it split at my next lower power (71). Joe got some great images with his setup, and I hope he shares them soon! Again this was a banner night, and it reaffirmed to me that we live in a great area because within 1.5 hours of where ever you live, you can be in really good, dark locations. I hope to take advantage of that more, weather permitting, during the next year. And I hope to see you all out there at some point or another! Keep looking up. Mat Hutchings ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message and any included attachments are from Siemens Medical Solutions and are intended only for the addressee(s). The information contained herein may include trade secrets or privileged or otherwise confidential information. Unauthorized review, forwarding, printing, copying, distributing, or using such information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you received this message in error, or have reason to believe you are not authorized to receive it, please promptly delete this message and notify the sender by e-mail with a copy to Central.SecurityOffice@siemens.com Thank you