M94, also called the Croc’s Eye Galaxy, glows high in the sky tonight. How much detail can your scope pick out?

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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.…