I arrived at Spectacle Lake Lodge on Tuesday, April 14, and I have had 3 clear nights under a dark sky. I have taken lots of images of several deep sky objects, including the open clusters M35, M36, M37, M38, M46 and M47, as well as galaxies M81, M82, M98, M99, M100, M108, NGC 2403, NGC 4214, NGC 4244 and NGC 4565. I will be posting some images soon.

One interesting thing happened when I imaged M38 in Auriga on Tuesday night (the 14th; see image below). I noticed a faint green fuzzy right beside M38, just to the left of the cluster (see image). It turns out, this was Comet Cardinal!

I knew this comet was in the general area, but I didn’t know beforehand that it was right beside M38. Talk about a stroke of luck! Comet Cardinal is very faint however, about 11th magnitude. By the way, if you have a BIG scope, or if you take a long image exposure, you might be able to catch it tonight (Friday April 17) when it’s right beside M36, another open cluster in Auriga.