Observing Report -- February 19, 2013

Clear night? I'm out. "Don't you work tomorrow?" ...Sorry, not sure I understand you.

Took out the folding table I got at Costco for the first time, and it worked pretty well. It was surprisingly easy to balance on the handcart, and it was incredibly handy to have around. Not going back.

M41: Now that Sirius is higher above the horizon, this is doable. Found it in binoculars, sketched it quickly through the scope before it went behind a tree.

M43: Tried, and I'm pretty sure I got it. Not sure if it was the moon or what, but this was definitely an averted-vision target. Still, marking it done. That's two more Messiers.

Almach: Yeah, that is a pretty double. I like Delta Cephei better, though.

NGC 2683, AKA the UFO galaxy: This took a long time to track down, and I wasn't even sure I'd found it. But I sketched it, and comparing that to other sketches (this one in particular -- and, surprisingly, this photo) I can see that I did, um, see it, hurrah! But only with difficulty and averted vision...no detail whatsoever.

Jupter: Pretty as always.

Moon: Lovely views of the Montes Teneriffe, looking like chicken claws, plus Helicon and Le Verrier craters. Helicon is 25km in diameter, and that's kind of amazing: I can see something on another world that is the size of my commute to work.