M42 - The Great Orion Nebula
My first target, with Orion now sitting above the trees to the south of my observing location, was
M43 - Reflection and Emission Nebula in Orion
NGC 1981 - Open Cluster in Orion
NGC 1647 - Open Cluster in Taurus
In the moonlight,
M45 - Pleides Open Cluster
The Pleiades (
The Moon
The Moon, as mentioned several times above was very bright, hanging high above in the western sky. With Full Moon just a few nights away the terminator is now cutting across some of the more westerly features, including
M35 - Open Cluster in Gemini
Before packing up I had a brief look at this compact and bright open cluster of stars which is always a great target for a small telescope. Even under the bright skies it gave a pleasing view in the 32mm, closely packed stars disappearing out of sight as they got dimmer towards the edge.