The Dog and M41 - A Revisit...

This early morning, just after midnight, the skies were clear and the Eastern sky with its offering of Orion and his neighbours were a sight to behold! My original intention this morning was to capture M41 and the Andromeda Galaxy.

But because Andromeda was blocked by the surrounding buildings nearby, I was only able to look for M41. So, I started to get my bearings with the Dog Star first, Sirius (above, left). Then I slew over, slightly, to the north east of that star, hoping to find M41,

given as a splash of stars huddled together.

Using the Star Shoot, I took a pic of it of what I think may be M41. I compared this with the reference pic in the nightsky magazine and I believe it is the real McCoy! ;-) I had also taken a color pic of it under a 3 sec exposure timing.

Now, I am still not too sure if M41 as given here is it... Still, it was a good night out with the skies being clear as it is. The only persistent problem were the street lamps that continue to be a total bummer to night vision. :-P I didn't bother to wait for Saturn as it comes above the eastern sky horizon now and should be visible a little after 3 am later. Those darn lights can put a damper to the catching sight of it...