As I drove up the winding road to another winding road only known to those from my support group, I idly mused upon the subtle meaning of world hunger as I contemplated the threat posed by global warming. When I arrived at the parking lot, it was filled with friends eager for a night's observing. I counted at least 0 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 58. It would be easy to confuse with blackness. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I accidentally located M 59 in Corvus. It appeared at low power like the clouds I'd seen earlier. Next, I found by accident M 86. It would be easy to confuse with that graph in An Unpleasant Truth. Next, I went for NGC 5798. It seemed just like a faint puff of nothingness, with a suspected, but not confirmed, central star. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I tried NGC 299 in Antlia. It appeared as cream being swirled into hot coffee. Then, I tracked down M 82. It was like a spitting cobra. With that checked off my list, I nudged my telescope to IC 3411. It appeared in the eyepiece like cream being swirled into hot coffee. Then, I tracked down B 59 in Camelopardalis. It was not quite as bright as a spider. With that checked off my list, I logged IC 454. It looked exactly like Dubya. After that, I jumped to B 207. It was a blurry likeness of lumpy darkness. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I star-hopped to Abell 51. It glowed, rather like desert sand. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I logged IC 527. It seemed most like yet another globular. After that, I sought B 62 in Lynx. It was a dead ringer for all the other smudges I've ever looked at. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I identified NGC 6894 in Ophiuchus. It reminded me of Gollum. Then, for a real challenge, I identified Abell 36. It shimmered, as if it were a smoke ring.
Finally, it was time to pack up and leave. As I drove home, I contemplated the events of the night, and realized that any night out under the sky with good friends is better than reading Beowulf in Old English.