Not sleeping in

It's a Saturday morning, a time when I normally sleep in; I need a bit of "catching up" at the end of most weeks. Looking out of the south-facing bedroom window I could see the sky had gone from thin overcast at bedtime last night to glorious clarity this morning. I went downstairs, grabbed my binoculars, and headed out to the stoop for a quick look 'round. What a nice sky, indeed! My old friend Orion was dominating the southwestern sky so I started with the belt -- the nebula (M42) glowed with glittering stars all around. Then I explored the vicinity of a very bright star to Orion's left... is that Sirius? Yes, indeed, with the beautiful open cluster M41 to his south: the heart of the "big dog." The sky was clear enough, even through the neighboring bare trees, that I could see a triangle to the southeast of M41; I later learned that was Canis Major's rump! North of Sirius was another, less impressive, open cluster M50. Of course no clear binocular autumn sky would be complete without a visit with the Seven Sisters: The Pleiades or M45. So clear and diamond-like the stars this morning. In my slippers, I stepped out on the sidewalk a bit to see if I could find Saturn. Yup! Not a good handheld binocular target, Saturn's distinctive golden cast was a giveaway. Neighbors' lights and hunger for breakfast brought me back indoors but I'd had a bit of pre-dawn stargazing which helped me feel better about not sleeping in.