Just come in from a night in the wind but at least there were no clouds. I'll take what I can get at the moment.
Nabbed a few items on the list and some that weren't. I didn't take notes so this is from memory.
Starting with the naked eye tour was a great idea. Even though Orion is easy to pick I found that it really helped to take the time to look around at where everything is.
M1 - can't see it. What can I say
NGC2244 - I think I got it. Found a cluster that looks like the picture and then started sweeping around the edges of this. As Les said I could not see the nebula by just looking. But when I went to the edge to dark background I could then see where the edge of the nebula was.
NGC2264 - A very nice looking cluster. Didn't go looking for the cone though.
M78 - It was close by and I haven't found it before so went for another look. I did find it, has a bright core and looks like 2 stars inside it.
M79 - Not too hard to find, did not resolve any stars. Even brightness over the cluster.
NGC1291 - Took a bit of hunting. I have trouble seeing the stars of Eridanus. Once I got my bearings I was ok. I could not see any of the structure so was probably just looking at the core.
Now that I was in the area and had some reference points I went looking for NGC1365 & NGC1399. Once I found them they were easy to see in the fov together. Did not see any details, just happy to find them. Then I went for NGC1316 and found that too.
My final target was the Blue Planetary Nebula NGC3918, I have not found this before. Pointed the scope at where I though it should be and couldn't believe my eyes.
There was a distinct deep blue spot right in the middle. I looked away and back just to make sure and it was still there. Contrasted nicely with the nearby red star. Zoomed in a bit and it was clearly round, not a point like the stars.
Just went for a quick cruise around the area before packing up. And the wind is still blowing.
