Here's a reminder for the next two Call for Observation constellations. Funny, my records show we haven't done Taurus. Now sure how came but this will put and end to that. Let's head to the main show piece of showpieces, M 45, for instance. Try it naked eye, how many stars can you count, and with binoculars, don't forget the size in addition to telescope. While grousing about with M 45, look up vdB 20 and vdB 23. They are nebulosity for Electra and Alcyone, respectively. Now slip over to the northeast and find NGC1514, an attractive 10th mag planetary nebula. What features do you find attractive? Moving almost 3° to the southeast, find the dark nebula Barnard 7, its narrow east / west. I find some differences amongst coordinates for this dark nebula; so if you don't see what you are expecting, then try panning around for a degree or so noting differences. The final selection is NGC1647, a large bright open cluster, which is located in the Hyades. Brian Skiff has this one listed as questionable for naked eye visibility. Check and see if you can detect, certainly from a dark site only. The list for this month may see short for object count but there is much to say about its contests. April will find us in Ursa Major, for third time but there's much to see here in the way of galaxies. We will stay in the western part of the constellation, saving the eastern for another month. One of the western most galaxies is UGC 4305 a rather moderate size irregular with a magnitude of 11.1. Next is NGGC2681, a Herschel 400 entry that is about ½ the size of the first entry but brighter at mag 10.3. See if you can spot something more than the brighter middle, don't forget to try a hood. The next 3 galaxies are all on the Herschel 400 list. First is NGC2742, a late type spiral galaxy. Its moderate size should display some nice detail. NGC2768 could be the largest and is quite bright at magnitude 9.9. Try to ferret out as much detail as possible. The last NGC2841 in addition to being a Herschel entry is also on the SAC list of the 110 Best NGC Objects. No wonder, it has the brightest magnitude at 9.2 is very elongated with some nice detail in its spiral arms. See if you can estimate the PA of elongation - without cheating. Then compare your results. Finally there's NGC2850, a rather large, late type spiral. What do you estimate its magnitude and surface brightness - again without cheating. Then compare your results. I am planning on something a little different for May so stay tuned. Hopefully we will get some clear, steady and transparent skies in the next couple of weeks or so. Clear skies and send me some observations, aj