Several people have mentioned NGC 253 and M51 and the big bright globs.
All of those are definitely on my list.
I'll add NGC 4565 to the list. That's where I often finish up a spring
observing session. And M33 for the fall.
As for M42 -- that's not dessert; that's a main course! Isn't it
dangerous observing that too close to bed-time?
Cheers, Bob
--- Jamie Dillon <jamie_dillon@No-Spam> wrote:
> Well, a) thanks be for Rashad Al-Mansour. I was sure this would be a
> hot thread. You just never can tell.
> b) during recess today, went thru the TAC observing archives with a
> search for the term "dessert." Interesting results. Yes it's common
> astro slang among TACos:
>
> Albert Highe uses it exclusively to refer to the comestible kind of
> dessert.
> So does Jane Houston-Jones, along with Mars described once as
> sherbet.
> Matthew Marcus goes for Saturn, Markarian's Chain (!), omega Centauri
>
> and Centaurus A.
> Jeff Blanchard and Paul Lefevre both go to the Sombrero, M104.
> Mark Wagner for dessert likes the Cat's Eye, fancy PN, ngc 6543.
> Joe Fragola has enjoyed Mars.
> Jeff Gortatowsky in his own backyard went to the Double Double,
> epsilon Lyr, and M57 the Ring.
> DDK, along with the objects cited yesterday, sure enough uses the
> term often, for such objects as the Wild Duck, M11; M30 that big
> globular in Capricornus with the long dreads; Albireo; M81 and M82;
> M13, we must be fair; ngc 891 the big edge-on in Perseus; and sigma
> Orionis that amazing septuple star; 1907 that dense companion of M38.
>
> Also on the bandwagon for Albireo, the Ring, Markarian's Chain, the
> Double Cluster, and Uranus and Neptune. And the Moon once from Cone
> Peak.
>
> In a note from way back, Wagner refers to the whole night as dessert,
>
> much like the JVN. Hale-Bopp figures largely in this report.
> http://observers.org/reports/97.02.08.html
>
> From a night at Coe, here are notes on that amazing galaxy 253,
> which
> sure deserves notice, and our very own M42 -
>
> >For a late dessert, found NGC 253 in Sculptor (Everett helped in my
> >dotage), for the first time since last January. A real favorite,
> >looking that night long and svelte with smart lanes. Then on to M42
> >which was splendid and clear at 3 am. At 210x, studied the flare
> >that extends to the SE, which showed depth and sweep, astounding. I
> >know we all know this, but there is nothing in the world like the
> >Orion Nebula. First deepsky nonstellar object I ever saw in my own
> >scope, way inexhaustible.
>
> Cheers on a drizzly Tuesday,
> DDK
>
> --
> Jamie Dillon <*> speech pathologist
> jamie_dillon@No-Spam
> "_____" -- Harpo Marx
>
Received on Wed Oct 26 12:09:50 2005