Let The World Sleep, We Have The Stars All To Ourselves Tonight!

(This is a grammar free post to keep the authenticity of  what I wrote while experiencing this night)

Observing Journal Entry-  July 26 2011
So in a few we are going to head out for another fantastic summer night of observing. The plan is to catch some of the celestial treasures around Delphinus, such as two glorious star clusters, a planetary nebula and for a treat we are hoping to catch the blue nebula in the eyepiece.  I was out with my little dog Sophy (to the right of my blog), who is also my stargazing buddie, and wow the stars are amped up with proton power tonight. Delphinus was very seen despite my back patio light is on. Lights off when the scope comes out! I was looking around and Cygnus is proudly soaring along with the other  lights of the summer triangle. In the south tonight the clear starry skies are being graced with the presence of Scorpio. Wow that is a big honkin constellation, super stinger of the summer sky. cannot mistake how huge the stars seem, Antares is very  inviting, might take a rest stop there when I have a snack.

11pm Temp 70* Equipment: 12 inch dobsonian, 26mm eyepiece, 2x Barlow
Well got my gear, my radio and snacks, water and fresh batteries in my red flashlight, star maps and lets hit the ol Milky Way highway. It is so unbelievably clear skies out here it is making every star pop like crazy. I have never seen the milky way  from my backyard observing spot and I even have a yellow bug light on my shed.  Every bright star is shining their photons to the max.  Secondary stars are wowing me, so many can be seen. Even Hercules is  very well seen. Cooler weather, no friggin mosquitos. Crickets are singing for the first time this summer, absolute magic. This is just nuts! Looney stars are... well...  every constellation is so well seen I don't even know how to stop sitting here staring at them all.

Twenty minuits later ... okay time to stop sitting here staring and roll out my telescope to view Delphinius. The milky way star trail  through Cygnus is blowing my freaking mind. It's a good thing I made myself an observing list earlier today while enjoying a cup of coffee. I would not know where to start. Actually I need to calm down, I just yelled "Wow Sophy! Look at that eff*n milky way, WOAH!". Pretty sure the neiborhood heard it. First target on my list is NGC-6934, a star cluster  under Delphinius.  Holy Asteroids I have a creek in my neck searching for that star cluster, I think someone moved it. I aimed for the star  labeled E in Delphinius and scanned the area it was supposed to be in. So I looked on my map to see what other star I can use as a pointer and Altair seemed a good route to take.

As for the creek (actually called a kink) in my neck, can you imagine telling someone who does not know observational object lingo?? The conversation I came up with:
 "What happened to your neck?" they ask, I reply "NGC-6934".

Finally the star cluster slid into my finderscope's view.  Found it the old fashioned way, averted vision, the tried and true method every scope user uses.  Altair was a great help in locating it. If your stuck finding an object go a different route. It  may teach you new observing skills. always good to keep them sharp.

12:50am- Bright green meteor shot through Cygnus! Direction was west to east,WOW!  I  was up at the zenith point aiming my finderscope towards Alberio double star and I saw  it just beyond my finderscope. As David Levy would yell " YES,YES!".  Next I  am hitting  some bootes object,then packing it in for the night.  Here are some other objects I hunted down using my 12 inch dobsonian:

Arcturus Group   M3  Mizar/Alcor double star   Alberio Sadr   M13

Above when I mentioned the milky way highway I never thought Iwould actually see it tonight.
While most of my neibourhood sleeps around me, us night sky explorers are having amazing experiences in our backyard, life changing for some. It's not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!