Long observing stint.

Last night I decided to check out the full moon with my telescope. It's pretty neat, but I'm going to need to buy some filters or Polaroid to reduce the intensity, because it's pretty bright. I have a cap for the telescope that has a small removable cap on it which I use to observe the moon, because otherwise the light through the eyepiece is powerful enough to project the moon on my hand at a distance of 5 centimeters or so.

Once moongazing was over, I found the Pleiades star cluster (M45, pictured here) by accident. I was looking through binoculars in an attempt to star hop my way to the Andromeda Galaxy.

Star hopping is more or less what it sounds like: Starting with a known star, you make your way closer and closer to your intended target using bright, easily identifiable stars to guide you. Because most deep sky objects (galaxies, nebulae, etc) are to faint to see with the naked eye, one uses binoculars or a telescope to see them. This substantially reduces our field of view, making navigation difficult.

Near Pleiades I found the constellation Triangulum, and tried to find the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), but with no luck. I'm convinced I should be able to see them, regardless of the light pollution caused by the full moon, but alas, I had no such luck.