Friday night, or I guess Saturday morning, since the clock said 2:00 AM, was up and peeked out the window. Clear skies, at last! Grabbed my bathrobe, my slippers and my
Nikon 10x70 and settled in to do some
binocular astronomy on the patio. The sky transparency did not look that good at first glance, but I was in for a surprise. The three great open clusters in Auriga, M37, M36 and M38 were my targets. In the past, M37 and M36 have posed no problems, but M38 has always been elusive. Just a bit too dim for my poor observing site to check it off as visible, even in my excellent
astronomy binocular. Not so, this time. I could just make it out as a glow against the background, using averted vision. It was a long way from the good object I am used to seeing from a dark sky, but the important thing was actually confirming it. Finished the session by working my way toward Orion. Went back to bed and slept like a log.