9 October 2004

Observing Location	On Route 4 somewhere near Big Pond, Cape Breton, NS, Canada I was driving between Petit-du-Grat and Sydney on Route 4 and pulled off to the side of the road where there was a stretch between communities where there were no street lights. Passing cars were a bit of a problem.
Atmospheric Conditions	It was very clear. The sky was pitch black except where the Milky Way was.
Instruments	Canon 15x50 Image Stabilized binoculars
Observing Party	Charlie Ridgway

Stargazing here is terrible. I was driving a stretch of road in a very rural area. Even is dome of those areas there are street lights. But I found a place between hamlets where there were no lights and a thicker shoulder. I pulled over and walked across the road so my flashers weren't bothering me but I still had to deal with occasional strings of cars and trucks. I looked up and couldn't find anything. It wasn't that there weren't any stars, but that there were too many of them. The sky was huge.

Target	Pleiades
Time	9Oct04; ~2300 ADT
Category	Deep Space Objects
Comments	Finally I found the Pleiades. I think the sisters must have been fooling around with the braves because there were a lot of papooses running around.

Target	The Hyades
Time	9Oct04; ~2300 ADT
Category	Asterisms
Comments	I searched for the Hyades and after a while found something that might be it. The only way I was able to confirm it was that my Cyclops was there shining brightly.

Target	Cassiopeia (The Queen)
Time	9Oct04; ~2300 ADT
Category
Comments	I took a real long time to pull Cassiopeia out of the Milky Way.

Target	The Milky Way
Time	9Oct04; ~2300 ADT
Category	Deep Space Objects
Comments	The Milky Way was almost palpable. I could see it coming through then stop and it looked like it picked up again as a Y with the arms around the first portion. I don't know if I was seeing the Coal Sack. [The Coal Sack is in the Southern Hemisphere near Crux so I obviously wasn't seeing that. Ben and Peter suggest that it might have been the Great Rift but the only other night it was clear enough to see the Milky Way I was not able to find Cygnus to confirm this.]