Dear DSF

A group of three observers from California -- Steve Gottlieb, Alan Agrawal and Bob Douglas -- were at Jimi Lowrey's observatory in Fort Davis, TX during the last week. I drove down from Austin to meet and observe with them over the weekend, taking Friday off.

While there is much to be said about the non-astronomy aspects of the trip, I shall reserve them for social media and concentrate on the astronomy here.

The observing company was wonderful. We had many interesting and educative discussions when waiting for our share of photons. The mix of obscure targets and bright targets made a very delicious cocktail, especially with all that colour in the eyepiece with planetary nebulae. I had some nice physics discussions with Alan and Bob, and a lot of deep-sky discussion with Steve and Jimi. I would like to thank Steve and Jimi for putting up with my incessant questions; thank Bob for all those wonderful planetary nebulae (I realize their beauty in hindsight, strangely); Alan for sharing his vast and broad knowledge on various subjects; and also Jimi for sharing his one-of-a-kind telescope!

Here are my observing highlights. With a 48", west Texas skies, and being surrounded by such deep-sky expertise, it is only natural that there are so many "highlights" out of just two nights! I had to ignore many wonderful Hickson group and planetary nebula observations. Having seen Steve Gottlieb's observing logs, I can hardly call mine logs, for they have no semblence of meticulousness or organization. In any case, they are presented below.

Clear Skies

Regards
Akarsh