Another brief peek of clearing.

Got a couple nights of clear skies this week.  There was also the Table Mountain Star Party last weekend that was finally a great success with clear skies.  This year we avoided the severe chill, dew and frost that made the last 2 years totally miserable.  This year we did have some pretty windy conditions on Thursday night.  I ended up just lying on my back staring at the sky and Milky Way without using the scope.  The skies were just too unstable to get any good views with the telescope.
The next 2 nights were nearly perfect.  No clouds, wind died down, and I did bring my warm fuzzy pants and snow suit this year, so I was warm enough most of the night.  We did get some good views of a lot of Persied meteors also.  Including a few shadow casting big ones - they always seemed to show up when I was looking down at my foot or some other stupid direction and suddenly saw a shadow!
It was clear, hot and 90+ degrees when I got home, so it was a perfect night to stay out late and try some imaging in the backyard.  Here are a couple shots that I took.
...meanwhile, back to the clouds again.

Crescent Nebula in Cygnus

M27 Dumbell Nebula

Table Mountain view toward the center of our galaxy