I like to start with something bright and easy just to see how stuff is working and
With everything working perfectly it was galaxy time. M49 is always a good place to start,
M84/86 were both faint, seeing much more would take a very dark night with no moon.....which I did not have. On to the Needle Galaxy, it's bright central core was visible and the edge on look of the dust lane was bold. It's little wonder why this is a showpiece object.
M64 is well named as the bright core contrasts well with the dust lane around it. It does indeed look like a black eye.
Since I was in the area M3 is always worth a look and it frames well in the 14/80. On a whim I pulled out the 9mm/100 and was rewarded with a very sharp image, out came the 9 and the 7/100 went in. For 20 seconds I was able to look at the cluster at over 250x, then the turbulence returned and back to 128x it was.
M63 was next on the hit list and the arms surrounding the large center were visible. Just a solid image.
M51. Both galaxies revealed well with the arms visible with fair definition. The bridge between the two showed up well. Even with the moon this is probably the best view of the Whirlpool I have had to date.
M81 and 82, both showed well, but the edge on of the cigar looked much better tonight for some reason.
To end the night M13 is always a good choice. Despite being low in the sky it was bright, well defined and a oh wow moment in the 14/80.
Just a note about the equipment tonight. The XX16G parked every object inside the 14mm 80 degree eyepiece. So no complaints with the scope tonight at all. A
