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May 8: Face-on spiral face-off
Last Quarter Moon occurs at 5:10 P.M. EDT. With no Moon in the evening sky, deep-sky treasures are well within reach.
High in the east by 10 P.M. local daylight time is the two-star constellation Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs. Although it may sound unimpressive, this constellation holds several Messier objects within its borders, including tonight’s target: M94, the brightest galaxy in this star pattern.
Sometimes called the Croc’s Eye Galaxy, M94 is a face-on spiral with tightly wrapped arms. Glowing at magnitude 8.2, you should have no trouble finding it, located some 3° northwest of magnitude 2.9 Cor Caroli (Alpha [α] Canum Venaticorum). Although it will show up in smaller instruments as an oval-shaped glow, it may look like a featureless elliptical galaxy in many scopes. If you want to pull out some detail, you’ll need a large telescope of 11 inches or so. This will show not only the compact, bright central core, but the extended disk wrapping around it, stretching 30” across — twice as wide as the core. You may even see the fainter halo encompassing the entire galaxy. A scope of 16 inches or more will let you pick out the arms, wrapped closely around M94’s central region.
Sunrise: 5:51 A.M.
Sunset: 8:03 P.M.
Moonrise: 2:00 A.M.
Moonset: 12:09 P.M.
Moon Phase: Waning crescent (48%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The Moon’s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.
