[Bombardon (Eugene)]

Inspired by you guys and with very little knowledge of this dim piece of sky, I managed to get enough sharp collimation on my 10" F5 on Sunday 18th Feb to have a try. I was very impressed with The Kappa triple with its fine line and Epsilon which I see as pale yellow and a faint blue companion. I would certainly confirm that Joe's praise of the rich colours of the Gamma pair was warranted. Eta was a big challenge in my skies last night which although 30" wide, the contrast of 5.3 and 11.8 remained unresolved in my Hyperion 13mm but yielded to a zoom Orion eyepiece which Joe recently parted with and which revealed this one at 10mm. I noted Yellowish and grey companion. Zeta of 4.7/9.8 @16.7" was equally difficult and I found it bright yellow and an almost 'brown' companion - if this colour is allowed! Cataracts can do wonderful things. Didn't reach h3997 yet but tried very hard on the 'Meathook,' NGC 2442 but could only see a very vague smudge in the zoom @ X21. Sky hugely steady at about 10.30 p.m but not the great transparency I get around this part of sky on the best of nights. Eugene