[orestis]

hi everyone,
Yesterday night was nice and clear, only the stars were twinkling which wasn't that bad.
My brother was also with me and looking at different objects and helping me sketch M42.

conditions:3/5
equipment:5 inch reflector eq2 mount + plossl ep's+sketch pad and pencils

M42- As my eyes gradually adapted i started to see the 2 great arms which were like a fountain coming out of the trapezium cluster and went out of my fov in my 10mm ep (90x mag).There was also a membrane of gas in between the trapezium and the end of the right arm and a little on the left.
Also there was a dust patch a little below the trapezium.I found that the sketching brought out more detail as i was observing.

After about an hour we finished the sketch .i wanted to show my brother some of my favorite objects and so i did.
We saw the tarantula which was excellent with its amazing tendrils,then 47 tuc which was very cool.
While i was looking south i noticed a tight grouping of stars about 15 degrees lower than Canopus which was gob smacking.So many stars.great open cluster.Does anyone know what open cluster it might of been?
We saw M31 and the pleides which were cool but couldn't fit into view.wish i had a wide field ep to see it in all is glory.
I wanted to do a sketch of Ngc 55 but it was about 10pm and wanted to go sleep.
It was a Majestic night which i will never forget.

Thank you to anyone patient enough to read my observations and to look at my sketch

Orestis