As I drove up the winding road to another winding road only known to those from my support group, I idly mused upon the cosmological implications of economic theory as I contemplated the approaching chlorofluorocarbons ... would it be warmer tonight?. When I arrived at the parking lot, it was filled with friends eager for a night's observing. I counted at least 36 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 56. It was as bright as a waterfall. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I checked out IC 764 in Perseus. It was a blurry likeness of a nebula. With that checked off my list, I star-hopped to B 41. It seemed almost black pearls on flocked paper. Then, for a real challenge, I slewed to Abell 1. It would be easy to confuse with a little triangle. After that, I nudged my telescope to Abell 50 in Gemini. It looked like diamonds on light grey velvet.
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 a night watching an I Love Lucy marathon on Nick at Night.