Friday night started off fairly decent, but clouds moved in early and = stayed all night. Saturday night started off clear but not especially transparent. I = couldn't see comet Holmes naked eye, but it was a huge diffuse cloud in = 10x80 binocs. The coyotes cut loose with their one minute of horizon to horizon barks = and howls about an hour after moonset. That usually doesn't occur until = after midnight, but maybe they knew it was their last chance that night = to establish territories or whatever it is they do. A front came through = right after that accompanied by about an hour's worth of clouds followed = by a noisy, howling wind that blew until just before dawn. I had to tear = down the superstructure of the 25" and cover up the base. Battened down = he hatches of the trailer and rocked asleep all night in the wind. Going out to western Arizona and setting up a 25" for a 2 nighter is a = lot of expense and work for about 2 hours of decent observing. However, = the whole trip was worth it for the view I got of NGC 2403 in CAM! That = is one gorgeous sight in the 25". The spiral structure is easily = visible as is a wealth of mottling and detail. My notes show this a = great object in a 12.5", as well. This is one Messier apparently = missed.=20 I was also amazed again at how easy the UGC galaxies are in the 25". You = would expect a faint fuzzy in any aperture to be a faint fuzzy. It ain't = the case. I can't put my finger on it, but these really faint fuzzies = take on the appearance of discrete objects in the 25" unlike the faint = fuzzies I see in lesser apertures. They are not just faint, = uninteresting wisps. For some reason I haven't yet figured out, they = are faint, INTERESTING wisps. So, this weekend I felt like that test pilot in the movie "The Right = Stuff" that guns his jet straight up to record altitude until it = stalls---and, in fulfilled amazement, he sees the stars appear for a = brief moment. Like him, I gunned it last weekend with all those = logistics for just a brief view. But what a view of NGC 2403! I'll = always remember it. Paul Knauth -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.