Word Salad II

I regularly observe from the middle of a major Midwestern city. Sure, the fainter ones are hard to pull out, but there's always the main planets, the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades (my personal favorite target), the Andromeda Galaxy, β Cygni (commonly Albiero, the beak of Cygnus, one of the most stunning double stars you'll ever see). A fair portion of the Messier catalog is visible without heading for the outskirts or for the sticks. Don't let a city scare you off from observing! I often like to set up in the front yard and give free views of Saturn or Jupiter to passers-by. During Mars' last close approach, I was able to resolve the polar ice cap, even in my relatively small scope, in the city. It takes a little patience, and a willingness to tolerate less-than-optimal seeing.