Moon – 1 day prior to full moon. Very clear, but very bright moonshine.
Still can’t locate M37 open cluster in Auriga, only M36 open cluster.
Tried to locate M76 Little Dumbell Planetary Nebula in Perseus (previously observed 22nd Sep). No luck (or perhaps a possible faint glimpse), but did come across a lovely visual double star, 51 Andromedae, a cream star (approx 3rd magnitude) coupled with a fainter blue (approx 5th magnitude).
Telescope was badly positioned for an observation of Orion, which is now beginning to rise high in the south. However, binoculars and even naked eye show a blue nebulosity in Orion’s Sword (M42 and M43 emission nebulas).
Did a brief tour around the northern parts of Orion. Delta Orionis in the belt shows as a nice visual double, but not able to split the primary into a true double (there is no indication in the star atlas that this is possible). Lambda Orionis in the head shows as another visual double, although complicated by one or two other faint companion stars.