Being the early bird that I am, I often get a chance to sneak out on the patio with my
astronomy binocular before the sun comes up to do some quick
astronomy as I sip my coffee. This morning was spectacular. The sky was clear, the air crisp but not overly cold and the transparency was excellent. Even with all my light pollution - I estimated just over limiting magnitude of 3 with some of the usual lights off in the parking lot this morning - I managed to just glimpse the galaxies M81 and M82 by slowly scanning back and forth across their position in the sky with my
Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe. Sure, I would have had a hard time convincing a beginner there was anything there at all - I had to scan for several minutes to be sure - but in the end, with averted vision and by constantly moving the
binocular, I could make out an ever so slight smudge of light against the sky background that was this closely spaced pair. Knowing where old friends are and what they look like makes all the difference when searching for deep-sky objects. What a great way to start the day.