First night with M51

[jtre]

So i think I found the M51. I live in an area that is moderately light polluted. I have an Orion AstroView 120ST (120mm aperture) telescope. I attempted to view the Whirlpool galaxy and managed to make out a faint point of light, using averted vision it was a slight fuzz in my 25 mm eyepiece. Does this sound like M51? i know i was definitely in the right area of the sky judging by my star charts

[Paul73]

That is more than likely it. There isn't much else bright nearby.

It will be worth revisiting now at you know where it is, on a good night, you may just catch the companion mag 9.6 NGC5195 which forms the slightly fainter of the double core.

Paul

[jtre]

That is more than likely it. There isn't much else bright nearby.

It will be worth revisiting now at you know where it is, on a good night, you may just catch the companion mag 9.6 NGC5195 which forms the slightly fainter of the double core.

Paul

it hardly looked like more than a faint star with a slight fuzz around it, Im guessing this is because of my small aperture and proximity to New York City.

[Paul73]

It does have a very bright core for a galaxy which would suggest that you a looking at the right fuzzy blob.

NY isn't going to help with the galaxy hunting! Any galaxy is a good catch if there is light pollution around. What sort of magnitude stars can you see without your scope?

Paul

[jtre]

I can see 5-6 depending on the time at night and my dark adaptation

[Paul73]

That isn't bad at all! I haven't got any experience with 5" scopes, but you have plenty of potential in those skys.

Paul