First night out in 2013 - slow start but worth it

[Sirius Bizness]

Last night was the first clear night I have been able to get the scope out in 2013. I decided on the ED120 for ease of setup. I lost two hours setting up the goto as after much frustration I realised I was entering the date as 2012! Once that problem was sorted I had a quick look a Jupiter as it was awesome as usual. I then decided to go for M81 as it should have cleared the house. I was using the 35mm Pan and when I looked through the EP I was amazed! I have only ever been able to see M31 before so this was my second galaxy. As I centred the view up, as it was a little off, to my amazement there was M82. These two galaxies were a wonderful sight in one FOV. There was a lot to take in due to the differing orientation of the galaxies.

I had almost given up on galaxies with the ED120 and light pollution but I will definately be spending more time observing them over the next few nights if the clouds stay away.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice report. LP can be a real bummer for galaxies, but there are quite a few which can be spotted even from the suburbs.

[Double Kick Drum]

M81 / M82 - Two for the price of one. A very fine sight.

Congratulations on finding them.

[KevUU]

I do love the sight of those two at once. If you could see them try M51 - I couldn't see much detail but the two cores were clearly visible, cool (companion galaxy NGC 5195 gives the other core)