Omega Centauri up north

The last two nights have been warm and clear in midmo so I've been out observing just before midnight. I was challenged by Sky&Telescope (Seronik, May 2013 p45) to try for the globular cluster Omega Centauri. I checked sky safari to see where it was and decided to give it a shot. At 6.1° altitude it is slightly higher than Zeta Centauri which is clearly visible from my deck observatory at 11:30pm. I can see all sorts of nearby stars in my 7x50s. The trio formed by Phi, Mu, and Nu Centauri are prominent and a good jumping off spot for star hopping. but try as I might, I wasn't able to pick it out either night. It's either too dim for binocs or just not visible through the trees. The sky at that altitude is at least partly blocked by trees from my vantage point. I may try again tonight as the next few nights promise rain. I did get treated with a large raccoon who visited a bird feeder while I was out. It wasn't particularly concerned with my presence.
Update: I went out tonight (4/30/13) about 11:45pm CDT, moved my observing point a bit to the deck stair landing, and there it was!  Omega Centauri! I had forgotten that since the offending trees are fairly close, just a few feet one way or another can make a lot of difference.  I locked on to Zeta Centauri with my 7x50's, slid to the right a bit more than a field width, and a big but dim glow showed up in the field.  For a globular, it's HUGE.  It's not surprising that I missed it when it was in the trees.  Seeing it against the darker sky made all the difference in the world.  Oh, and by the way, Mr Coon was back again except I think it is probably Mrs or Ms Coon.  She must be fairly young too since she wasn't particularly concerned when I went out on the deck.  She just kind of slowly ambled off.  I also set up my Canon SX150 to see how it would perform in a dark sky.  I set it on MF, iso 1600, 15" exposure, focus at infinity and 2 sec self timer with a tripod.  Next I pointed it at Corvus and took a couple of shots, followed by Scorpius.  The results weren't too bad when I used MSO Picture Manager to crank up the brightness almost all the way and contrast all the way. I'll need to try taking a series of 10" exposures and stack them

Lyrid meteor in 2013

Meteors aren't usually my thing since they normally peak in the wee hours but we are keeping our 2year old great grandson Tristan this week and he has no sleep schedule whatever. I woke up about three and decided to give it a shot. The moon was fairly low in the west and it was clear if a bit hazy. I bundled up against the cold 36 degrees and settled in for the show. It was absolutely still and quiet outside, unlike the occasional bellowing of a 2 year old boy inside! An owl briefly asked 'who cooks for you?' at one point but otherwise very quiet. But no meteors. Lyra and the sumner triangle were coming up in the east making promises of warm nights to come but I didn't believe a word of it. It was COLD. No wind saved my hide though. Then, about 3:30 it happened. ZIP. Right out of Vega about 20 degrees to the west and about 20 degrees long, a beautiful Lyrid meteor trail headed right for Draco's head. That was it for the night though. I packed in for the night and crawled back into bed while our little angel got a bit of rest himself.