As I drove up the winding road to Fremont Peak State Park, I idly mused upon the higher implications of world hunger as I contemplated the ominous thunderheads on the horizon. When I arrived at the parking lot, it was filled with friends eager for a night's observing. I counted at least 48 telescopes set up.
I started my night's observing with one of my favorite objects, M 16. It looked uncannily like desert sand. After I'd spent a few minutes looking at that, I slewed to NGC 6562 in Ursa Minor. It shimmered, as if it were whipped cream.
After a short break to empty my output buffers, I hunted for Abell 51. It seemed fainter than a waterfall. After that, I went for IC 3418. It seemed most like Gollum. After that, I added to my logbook B 382 in Corvus. It looked a bit like cream being swirled into hot coffee. With that checked off my list, I logged B 76. It reminded me of nothing I'd ever seen before. Next, attacking my personal nemesis, I located IC 3619 in Ursa Minor. It looked like Krylon Ultra-Flat Black. With that checked off my list, I found Abell 23 in the western sky. It looked uncannily like Alan Rickman.
Finally, it was time to pack up and leave. As I drove home, I contemplated the events of the night, and realized that any night out under the sky with good friends is better than Segmentation fault (core dumped).