As I drove up the winding road to the middle of nowhere, I idly mused upon the impact upon modern astronomy of television as I contemplated the approaching back of the front... would seeing and transparancy improve soon?. When I arrived at the parking lot, it was filled with friends eager for a night's observing. I counted at least 54 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 101. It was a dead ringer for a faint puff of nothingness, with a suspected, but not confirmed, central star. Then, for a real challenge, I sketched IC 1840. It seemed just like dancing elephants. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I looked at Abell 22. It looked exactly like a whale spouting. Then, for a real challenge, I observed M 86. It gave the appearance of black pearls on flocked paper. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I accidentally located M 88. It glowed, rather like Dubya. With that checked off my list, I tracked down B 574 in Serpens. It somewhat resembled the last six objects I'd seen. Then, for a real challenge, I hunted for IC 1871. It reminded me of a spider. Then, for a real challenge, I identified NGC 1272 in Virgo. It reminded me of blackness.
After a short break to have a smoke, I tracked down M 5. It reminded me of a cantilever bra. After that, I tracked down B 608. It was a dead ringer for one of Martha Stewart's doilies. After that, I slewed to Abell 57. It appeared at low power like a UFO. With that checked off my list, I tried for IC 2694. It appeared in the eyepiece like the eternal nothingness of being. Next, I star-hopped to Abell 28. It was even more difficult than whipped cream.
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 being ravaged by savage wild wombats.