Hi Josh,
From what I've come to understand over the years, a 6" aperture is about the minimum to get any real detail on DSOs. A 4" if you have some observing experience. Many DSOs are tough objects to pull out detail especially observing through light pollution. If the seeing conditions aren't great, that's an extra hurdle. Experience will yield better results.
With your telescope on viewing galaxies, perhaps you might see tiny fuzzy blobs.
Even through my 10" it can be a struggle- many of them appear as small faint grey blobs with perhaps a brighter centre (core). Even so, seeing that alone is quite exciting as they lay so far away! Some galaxies will give more detail than others- M104 and Centaurus A are favourites among many as they can show some nice details even through average seeing conditions.
Take a look
here at this article I did a while back- all these objects are in the sky right now. Most (esp. the star clusters and nebulae) should be within nice grasp of your telescope. Have a go at M104 and Centaurus A anyway- you just never know. But keep trying on these two galaxies, as I said, the seeing conditions can play a large part in how they appear.
I'm just unsure about the mention about the galaxy NGC4945 in Centaurus, sorry Wes
, but for two years I haven't been able to find it (albeit through light pollution) in my 10" dob and even Ron couldn't rise to the challenge at my place. But he hasn't given up!
Strange though as my southerly view is a good one i.e. not looking through the city lights so the sky is better viewing.
The Eta Carina nebula will look awesome through your scope. It looks great even in my 10x60 binoculars.
Also, take a look at this thread I did:
Easy and Beautiful Targets For Binos. It's designed for beginners with binoculars and small scopes. Scroll down further to post #11 on that thread and you will see that I have added more objects to the list.
The objects on this list are beautiful showpieces and easy to find. Some aren't in the sky now, but do hang onto the list for when those ones return.
All the best and have fun Josh. Astronomy is so much fun no matter what size scope one has (I get a big kick just out of bino observing!); even naked eye viewing can be incredibly exhilarating!
