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Friday night I finally saw two spiral arms in M83 from my dark site, though I couldn't see the arms extend all the way around. They gave M83 a barred galaxy appearance.
However the highlight of the night was seeing M51 for the first time. At my site I have a clear northern horizon, so I waited for M51 to poke it's head above the horizon and caught it before it started to make it's way back down. Despite being only a few degrees above the horizon, both it and NGC 5195 were so bright! Their mottled appearance was very clearly visible. I can only imagine how good it would look if it passed overhead.
Last edited by JoeBlow; 09-05-2016 at 06:51 AM.
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