Suzy's Observing Targets: July/August 2012.

[Suzy]

Hi everyone
Are you all ready for some great observing and fun?
Please join in- even if you're new to this forum, please don't feel shy- we'll welcome you openly!
As you can see I've constructed a list of targets focusing on different levels- objects that can be achievable for most of us.

Please post your reports here on this thread. Posting your reports will better help those that are struggling to find objects and also raise some excitement on those that may interest you. Reports are a great way to learn and better ourselves as observers.
If you need any help at all, please feel free to ask here as well.

I would like to see as many people involved as possible please. So give me a reason to keep doing them! There's lots of objects on this list that I've never seen and I can't wait to see them.. is it wrong that my list should excite me

Pick and choose your objects as you wish, you're not expected to do the whole list. If that special someone does, uhmmm ... hmmm... I'll send you an IceInSpace sticker with "I'm an Observing Legend" scribbled on it & perhaps "I'm a Show Off" where you can't see it easily. .

Now come on guys and girls, lets get ready to hit some fabulous targets for the next couple of months! Who's in?!!


P.S. Some of you may have been expecting to see this month's challenge done by me (re the hands up in interest I was asking for & support in which I received in my May/June Challenge). I won't be doing them anymore, instead dedicating my attention to this & further by-monthly target lists- depending on interest of course. Due to a misunderstanding over the phone- Alexander posted the challenge as he thought I was doing June, not July & had not read the thread where I asked for interest. As I'd already done a lot of work on the "challenge" I decided to soldier on further and finish it but giving it a different name. So that's how this all started you see.
I understand there are two different observing target threads posted back to back at the moment. Hopefully, the two will compliment one another. Alexander (Mental) very graciously invited me to put my targets on his list, but as you can see mine is rather long and I also wanted to put a bit of my own flare & twist on it, such as this waffle of an introduction. And I also would have felt like I was butting in if I posted too much or got too involved in someone else's thread (you know I tend to ). So no hard feelings Alexander and thank you for the invite, I hope you'll understand why.

[Suzy]

Easy

NGC 6302 Scorpius- (The Bug Nebula)- planetary nebula, mag. 9. This object takes high magnification well.

NGC 6572 Ophiuchus- (The Blue Racquet Ball) planetary nebula, mag. 9.
A very young PN being only a few thousand years old. This is an intense & bright blue nebula, use high magnification to reveal some shape & colour.

M22 Sagittarius- globular cluster, mag. 5.1

NGC 5986 Lupus- globular cluster, mag. 7.50

NGC 5460 Lupus- open cluster, mag. 5.60. An interesting cluster in a loopy line.

NGC 5102 Centaurus- galaxy (elliptical SO), mag. 10.28. Has a bright core, easily found sitting one degree from iota Centauri. Widefield eyepieces will show both the star and the galaxy within the same field of view. Look for the rectangular shape which will become more apparent in reasonable seeing conditions.

NGC 5286 Centaurus- globular cluster, mag. 7.60. Nice little bright glob.

NGC 6441 Scorpius- globular cluster, mag. 7.20. A small, yet bright condensed glob.

M57 Lyra- (The Ring Nebula) planetary nebula, mag. 8.80

The famous Double Double- Lyra. A quadruple star system. Mag. 4.7 & 4.6. Good eyesight or binoculars separate it into two stars, but a telescope of 60-75mm aperture & high power will reveal each star as a double.

M27 Vulpecula- (Dumbell Nebula) planetary nebula, mag. 7.50

Collinder 399 Vulpecula- (Coat Hanger Cluster) open cluster, mag. 3.60. A spectacular and large cluster which resembles a coat hanger. This is a fantastic binocular target as well.



Medium

Barnard 50 Scorpius- Dark Nebula. It appears as square shaped dark brownish patch.

NGC 3132 Vela- (The Eight Burst Nebula) planetary nebula, mag. 9.87.
Can you make out the rusty orange tinge to this nebula? Use high power, under low power this object can look stellar in appearance.

M54 Sagittarius- globular cluster, mag. 8.50.


NGC 6723 Corona Australis- globular cluster, mag. 7. Sitting within half a degree away is away is...
NGC 6727 Corona Australis- diffuse nebula.
http://www.caelumobservatory.com/obs/n6727.html


NGC 4945 Centaurus- spiral galaxy, mag. 8.6. See if you can make out the mottling. This galaxy has had two supernovas in the last five years (one of them was a 13th mag. in Dec last year).

NGC 5128 Centaurus- (Centaurus A). A dark dust lane cuts through the middle giving it the nickname of “Hamburger Galaxy”. One of the “Arp Peculiar Galaxies”, it’s thought to be a merger between a spiral and elliptical galaxy. Mag. 7.

NGC 7582, 7599, 7590, IC5294 Grus (Grus Quartet Galaxies). Between mag. 11 & 12.

IC5052 Pavo- spindle galaxy. Mag. 11.30

NGC 6300 Ara- Good size face on spiral. Mag. 10.90

The Veil nebula in Cygnus. This is a supernova remnant from a star that exploded between 5-8,000 years ago. It spans about 3 degrees. A filter will be beneficial here.

NGC 6826 Cygnus- (The Blinking Nebula) planetary nebula, mag. 11. It’s aptly named!

NGC 7009 Aquarius- (The Saturn Nebula) planetary nebula. Mag. 8. Look for the nodules using high magnification.

NGC 6981 Aquarius- globular cluster. Sits two degrees from the Saturn Nebula. Mag. 9.30.

NGC 6994 Aquarius- open cluster only one degree from the Saturn Nebula. Mag. 8.90.



DIFFICULT

NGC 6337 Scorpius- planetary nebula, mag. 12.3. See if you can make out the pale bluish glow.


From Sab (pgc hunter) ...

NGC 6027 Serpens- Seyfert's Sextet.
Tiny, very faint clump of 5 galaxies (the 6th "galaxy" is just a tidal plume). The brightest member has a visual mag. of approx 14 and the whole group is clustered within a mere 2' space.
Here's a pic.



From Ron (astroron) ...

Galaxy cluster Abell 3627.
A challenging group galaxies, it sits on the boarder of Triangulum Australe and Norma.
Abell 3627 consist of 59 galaxies with the brightest being mag. 12.46 and the faintest observed in my scope mag 14.84.
ESO galaxy 137-8 is the brightest.
All the galaxies in this cluster are ESO Catalogue objects.
One or two may be observed with a ten inch scope, but some of the fainter ones will require telescopes of twelve inches and above.


IC 5148/5150 Grus- (Spare Tyre Nebula) planetary nebula. A beautiful but faint PN. I found that filters didn't improve it very much. Mag. 13.

NGC 6380 Scorpius- Obscured Globular Cluster, it can be seen in scopes of 10" or more but needs good seeing. It can be easily missed if you don't concentrate. Mag. 11.5



From my friend, Steve Mencincsky ...

For the challenging section, the rich cluster of galaxies around IC 4329 is good at all levels. It's very photogenic, you see it turn up in many places. It's easy to find, it's near M83. My notes show about two dozen galaxies visible - barely - in my 18", so that would be a challenge for your 16" crowd. And there are four galaxies that have NGC numbers so they should be visible - as a challenge - in a 10".
IC 4329 mag spiral. 11.1 Centaurus
IC 4329A elliptical mag. 13.9 Centaurus
NGC 5302 spiral mag 12.2
NGC 5298 spiral mag 13.1

All within a field of view of one degree.
10” scopes might like to have a try for some of these galaxies in this group.



Another addition to this list (thanks Sab) ...

One interesting object in the vicinity missing from your list is NGC 5291, which forms an interacting pair with AM 1344-301, often referred to as the "Seashell Galaxy" located only 0.6' SW. This pair is about 20' WSW of IC4329 and is a member of the cluster. NGC 5291 has a V Mag of 14.2 and the "Seashell" is smaller and slightly fainter. NED gives it a blue (photographic) magnitude of 15.2. A rough rule of thumb when converting B magnitudes to V is to add approx 1. So the "Seashell Galaxy" would be approx 14.2 visual.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Very nice collection of targets there, Suzy. They really compliment the techniques I described in the first part of this two part challenge.

If I may suggest one more object, Polarrisima Australis, NGC 2573 - This is the closest object to the South Celestial Pole that is observable by amateur sized scopes.

With its position in the sky it is circumpolar all over Australia, meaning it can be seen at any time of the year.

It is a tiny, faint object, and I know some of you have pinned it already. This IceInSpace link has some descriptions and charts to help find this galaxy.

To spot this little bugger will take some patience and technique. Averted vision and a little movement will be your best friends to track it down.

Though it is little, take your time with it as its details are subtle, and if conditions are good load up the magnification on it. It is a good test piece for learning how to see detail in small faint fuzzies.

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

Not many will see this at all IMO absolute minimum would be a 12" with exceptional viewing!!

Originally Posted by glenc

A challenge for those with a 16" scope. Can you see the magnitude 13.4 galaxy NGC 2573? It is 1 degree from the mag 5.5 star sigma Oct.
The attached wikisky.org image shows the galaxy and the star with yellow circles around them. The yellow square is the south celestial pole SCP.
Polarissima Australis NGC2573 is 1.9' by 0.8' and 93 Mly away.

This “Holy Grail” was discovered by Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope with an 18-inch f/13 speculum telescope. He recorded it as "Neb Polarissima Australis. Faint, round, gradually a little brighter in the middle, 25 arcsec across. Situated nearly halfway between a star of 10th magnitude south of it, and a small triangle of stars 11th, 13th and 13th mag. north." http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/a...1&d=1247531825

[Deeno]

Good looking list Suzy.
You've put some effort into it!

If its clear (not meant to be) this weekend I'm going for a drive and I'll print up your list and let you know how I go....

Thanks
Deeno

[Back Yard Boy (Kevin)]

Excellent list Suzy as it includes many objects I have not yet seen.

I'll certainly be using the list at the earliest opportunity (i.e. as soon as all of these pesky clouds disappear - which hopefully will be before the moon becomes a problem for viewing at night)

[shelltree (Shelley)]

Wow, Suzy, you've put so much effort into this, what a champion! If this cloud buggers off tomorrow night, I intend on trying for as many of these as possible

[RobF (Rob)]

Top effort Suzy. Looks like lots of thoughts invested in this for the benefit of many. Thank you

[Suzy]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the support & encouragement, I'm very grateful.
And a big thank you to those who contributed to the "difficult" section .
I've just added a pic there of Sab's NGC 6027 galaxy cluster.

Kev, very glad to have you on board in the observing forum.

Looking forward to everyone's reports. You don't need to wait till you've observed a swag of them- post at will and keep us updated on what you've seen.

Brisbane- it looks all clear for "go" on the weekend, hope everyone else enjoys clears skies as well.

[Suzy]

I've just added another object to the "difficult" list: NGC 5291.
Thanks Sab.

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by mental4astro

Very nice collection of targets there, Suzy. They really compliment the techniques I described in the first part of this two part challenge.

If I may suggest one more object, Polarrisima Australis, NGC 2573 - This is the closest object to the South Celestial Pole that is observable by amateur sized scopes.

With its position in the sky it is circumpolar all over Australia, meaning it can be seen at any time of the year.

It is a tiny, faint object, and I know some of you have pinned it already. This IceInSpace link has some descriptions and charts to help find this galaxy.

To spot this little bugger will take some patience and technique. Averted vision and a little movement will be your best friends to track it down.

Though it is little, take your time with it as its details are subtle, and if conditions are good load up the magnification on it. It is a good test piece for learning how to see detail in small faint fuzzies.

Hi Alex, I have observed Polarissima Australis ( I think it was the last session with the 12" before I replaced the primary with a Zambuto)

Here is my report of this object:

Polarissima Australis (NGC 2573)
Octans, GX, RA 01 41 43, Dec -89 20 04, Size= 2x0.8' , Mag V = 13.6

I've been wanting to hook this one for a while now! Finally got it. Spotted at 167x after a few minutes of scrutinising the area, but superior at 267x. Faint, and takes perserverance to spot, but quite straightforward once you pinpointed the location and give it a bit of magnification. Slightly elongated E-W and brightens slightly toward the core. A stellaring in the core was seen popping in and out of vision. NED gives a distance of 111.6 million light years.

Originally Posted by Suzy

I've just added another object to the "difficult" list: NGC 5291.
Thanks Sab.

cool thanks. I will make an attempt at this object next year next time it reaches its prime as this record cold and record crap fail-whale melbournecast winter is a write off. Worst climate on Earth.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by pgc hunter

Hi Alex, I have observed Polarissima Australis ( I think it was the last session with the 12" before I replaced the primary with a Zambuto)

Here is my report of this object:

Polarissima Australis (NGC 2573)
Octans, GX, RA 01 41 43, Dec -89 20 04, Size= 2x0.8' , Mag V = 13.6

I've been wanting to hook this one for a while now! Finally got it. Spotted at 167x after a few minutes of scrutinising the area, but superior at 267x. Faint, and takes perserverance to spot, but quite straightforward once you pinpointed the location and give it a bit of magnification. Slightly elongated E-W and brightens slightly toward the core. A stellaring in the core was seen popping in and out of vision. NED gives a distance of 111.6 million light years.






cool thanks. I will make an attempt at this object next year next time it reaches its prime as this record cold and record crap fail-whale melbournecast winter is a write off. Worst climate on Earth.

I have observed this target quite a few times with 14" + Scopes. A couple of times only in sub 14" scopes. It takes good skies, a good scope and a skilled observer to get it in a sub 14" scope, consequently I think this is an excellent challenge target for people with medium aperture Scopes.

Very nice list BTW Suzy. NGC 5286 is a nice choice. It has that bright adjacent yellow field star which makes it unique compared to most other bright globs.

Cheers,
John B

[Suzy]

Hi guys, well I thought I'd start the ball rolling on the observing reports by posting mine. Some of the objects on the list I have observed in the past, but some of my more recent ones I thought I would go ahead and post a proper report (the ones in Scorpius, Lepus & one in Cent. just before I did this target list).
The new moon period which just passed unfortunately proved to be very cloudy, so I will have to wait till next new moon to forge ahead with the rest of the targets on the list and post my obs.

So here it is!


Date: 15/7/12
Equipment: 10” Newtonian telescope on a dobsonian base.
Eyepieces Used: Pentax XW10mm (120X magnification). Denkenmeir 14mm (85X magnification).




NGC 6302 (The Bug Nebula) in Scorpius
85X showed this to be very small and not easy to observe so I used 120X and wow this nebula sure loves magnification. It has an incredibly bright centre with a rather long extension on the right. Averted vision showed the extension longer, while the left hand extension was quite short. It looked like a ripped bon-bon! I also think it could be easily mistaken for a galaxy because of its bright nucleus and extensions.
A week later I observed this again, this time using 240X. The seeing was terrible and I was having trouble keeping the stars focused. The object was much larger again, but dimmer. It was fuzzier and hard to make out detail- the sky conditions I’m certain are to blame, so I will need to re-visit this again at this power. As I found the most pleasing view was with 120X during my previous session, I changed to this magnification, but again it was nothing like my previous session.
This has got to be one of the most interesting planetary nebulae I’ve seen to-date in reference to shape as it looks like an exploding star with the gamma rays blowing out of its poles (as opposed to dying quietly in puffs as pns do).

NGC 5986 (Globular Cluster) in Lupus
120X. A good size GC, diffuse and very hard to resolve but I did manage to resolve a few using averted vision when some of the stars became very sparkly. A bright star sits on the left side of the GC- so close that it looks like it’s attached to the cluster.
My view through the scope is much like what Omega Centaurus looks like thru binoculars in light pollution- A fuzzy round and faint ball.

NGC 6572 (Planetary Nebula) in Ophiuchus
120X. A very deep and intense blue, perfectly rounded like ball. No detail was visible but on my next session I will use high power and a filter to see if anything will reveal itself. In my opinion, I think colour wise, this objects knocks The Blue Planetary & The Ghost of Jupiter PNs right off their perch.
I used 85X at first, but it appeared very tiny. This is another object that seems to love high magnification.

NGC 5460 (Open Cluster) in Lupus
A bizarre looking cluster! I’m used to seeing clusters sprayed across the sky loosely or in compact jewels, but this one took me by surprise. A long line of stars containing some loops- It looks like a moving Cobra snake with three stars making up it’s head.

NGC 5102 (Galaxy) in Centaurus
120X. A very bright and round core is easily made out with diffuse long extensions in a blockish, rectangular shape.






And just a few other objects which I observed during this session that I thought I’d throw in...


IC 4406 (Planetary Nebula) in Lupus: 120X. Very round & diffuse, looks like a globular cluster. Sits in a sparse field of stars so easily noticeable.

NGC 5822 (Open Cluster) in Lupis: 120X. A very pretty, loosely scattered cluster. Fills up the entire field of view of my widefield 10mm eyepiece. From the middle of the cluster towards the southern end, it looks very much like a love heart shape.

NGC 5824 (Globular Cluster) in Lupus: 120X. A very pretty glob with a very bright core. Can’t resolve any of the stars within it. With averted vision I could see a diffuse halo surrounding it.

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by ausastronomer

I have observed this target quite a few times with 14" + Scopes. A couple of times only in sub 14" scopes. It takes good skies, a good scope and a skilled observer to get it in a sub 14" scope, consequently I think this is an excellent challenge target for people with medium aperture Scopes.

Very nice list BTW Suzy. NGC 5286 is a nice choice. It has that bright adjacent yellow field star which makes it unique compared to most other bright globs.

Cheers,
John B

Many thanks John, I really appreciate your input.
If you don't mind, I would really like to consult you a bit later in the year for a few objects for my next list.

I also plan on tackling Steve Gottlieb, Les Dalrymple & Richard Jakiel for a few too, so look out everyone!

[Shamrocker (Aidan)]

Hi Suzy,

As a real beginner based about 6km east of Brisbane CBD and without the ability to get away to dark skies (young kids) - I was wondering how accessible the items on your list would be to me?

I have an 8" dob!

Thanks
Aidan

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Many thanks John, I really appreciate your input.
If you don't mind, I would really like to consult you a bit later in the year for a few objects for my next list.

Happy to help if I can Suzy

Cheers,
John B

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by Shamrocker

Hi Suzy,

As a real beginner based about 6km east of Brisbane CBD and without the ability to get away to dark skies (young kids) - I was wondering how accessible the items on your list would be to me?

I have an 8" dob!

Thanks
Aidan

Hi Aidan,

You will certainly be able to observe some of these targets from light polluted skies in an 8" scope. However, keep in mind that whilst you might still be able to see some targets under light polluted skies, the view will be "washed out" and lack contrast compared to the view from darker skies.

You will certainly be able to see some of the bright globular clusters, planetary nebula, open clusters and double stars. Most of the galaxies and some of the planetary nebula because they are dim extended objects and more diffuse, will be difficult to find in an 8" scope under light polluted skies.

If you are unable to jump in the car and drive for 30 to 60 minutes to get to decent skies, you might want to set yourself an observing program that isn't so affected by light pollution. For instance double stars, variable stars, moon, planets etc are not really affected by light pollution, so you may wish to focus more on those types of targets.

If you are interested I could put something together for you from my 600 target list that could be observed under urban skies and will keep you busy for a while

Cheers,
John B

[Shamrocker (Aidan)]

Originally Posted by ausastronomer

Hi Aidan,

You will certainly be able to observe some of these targets from light polluted skies in an 8" scope. However, keep in mind that whilst you might still be able to see some targets under light polluted skies, the view will be "washed out" and lack contrast compared to the view from darker skies.

You will certainly be able to see some of the bright globular clusters, planetary nebula, open clusters and double stars. Most of the galaxies and some of the planetary nebula because they are dim extended objects and more diffuse, will be difficult to find in an 8" scope under light polluted skies.

If you are unable to jump in the car and drive for 30 to 60 minutes to get to decent skies, you might want to set yourself an observing program that isn't so affected by light pollution. For instance double stars, variable stars, moon, planets etc are not really affected by light pollution, so you may wish to focus more on those types of targets.

If you are interested I could put something together for you from my 600 target list that could be observed under urban skies and will keep you busy for a while

Cheers,
John B

Thanks John,

That would be great. My porblem is that having spent a few months ticking of some of the easier objects like Omega Cent, Hyades, Jewel Box etc. I have been struggling to find planetary nebula and higher magnitude galaxies. I was putting this down to my location but nonetheless am looking for a challenge to keep learning. So any help you can give would be great.

Cheers

Aidan

PS I already responded and for some reason it didnt post (user error I expect) so just in case you see two responses.

[Suzy]

Hi Aiden,
I will get back to you tomorrow as there was one more object on my list that I wanted to observe before I responded to you- and I was able to grab it tonight. So come tomorrow, I will go into detail on what I can see from my light polluted back yard off this list.

I too love PN's! I find them so incredibly interesting to observe as they can vary so much in shape and colour. So I will put a list together of those as well of what I've observed from home. Stick around, we'll help you out!

[Suzy]

Hi again Aiden, here are the objects that I've observed from my light polluted suburban backyard- all without a problem- using a 10" newtonian. Your 8" shouldn't have a problem. In fact, even a 6" should deliver if not all, most of these objects below (I had a 6" before getting the 10"), the only difference being the brightness & detail which I noticed jumping from the 6 to the 10.

I've put this list together specifically so these objects can be attained from 6" scopes and up. Some objects on the medium list may require darker skies and perhaps slightly larger aperture, while the difficult list is really targeted for large apertures.

A 6" on some of these objects may benefit from a dark sky as well, in particular, galaxies (M104 & Centaurus A- I couldn't achieve either from my backyard with my 6").

This pic here I found to be a very good representation of what The Sombrero Galaxy looks through a scope.
With my 10", I cannot get NGC4945 galaxy in Centaurus ("Medium" list) from my backyard. But it depends on each person's sky pollution.


NGC 6302 Scorpius- (The Bug Nebula) PN.

NGC 6572 Ophiuchus- (The Blue Racquet Ball) PN.

M22 Sagittarius- globular cluster.

NGC 5986 Lupus- globular cluster.

NGC 5460 Lupus- open cluster.

NGC 5102 Centaurus- galaxy.

NGC 5286 Centaurus- globular cluster.

NGC 6441 Scorpius- globular cluster.

M57 Lyra- (The Ring Nebula) PN.

The famous Double Double- Lyra.

Collinder 399 Vulpecula- open cluster.

Barnard 50 Scorpius- Dark Nebula.

NGC 3132 Vela- (The Eight Burst Nebula) PN.

NGC 6723 Corona Australis- globular cluster along with (half a degree away) NGC 6727 Corona Australis- diffuse nebula.

NGC 5128 Centaurus- (Centaurus A) galaxy.

NGC 6826 Cygnus- (The Blinking Nebula) PN.

As you can see- all of the objects on the easy list I have observed from home, the only exception is M27 and that's because I haven't seen it yet.

I can do up to mag 10 in my backyard. But it depends on the surface brightness of the objects. Large face on spiral galaxies I have trouble with as the light is spread out over the surface area making it dimmer than say an edge on or an elliptical. All I can make out with M83 (Southern Pinwheel) is the core and barely there nebulosity for its arms). The Needle Galaxy (edge on) is invisible as my view to it faces north thru the city light pollution & it's also quite a low object, so light pollution will wash it out even more. Yet M104 (edge on galaxy) is beautiful. Cetus A (M77- small face on spiral) looks beautiful. So it's basically, have a go and see, but be realistic by keeping the mag limit around 10 and under when observing thru light pollution, I would say.

If you're having trouble picking up faint fuzzies, remember that the more you observe and train your eyes in observing, the better you will get at picking up faint smudges. Then the more you observe those faint smudges, the more detail (sky condition dependent of course), in time you'll be able to pick up. If you find an object to be "unimpressive"- re-visit it- the sky conditions (transparency/seeing) can play havock on ruining objects so it's worthwhile to keep going back to them and sometimes they'll look absolutely spectacular! I notice this a lot with The Sombrero Galaxy (M104) and Centaurus A (NGC 5128) from home. With the latter object, the last few sessions it's barely been there in my eyepiece, and yet on some nights I can see that dark dust lane jump out at me & the galaxy nice and bright.

Have a go at NGC5102 in Centaurus- it's very easy to find (and bright) as it sits only one deg away from the bright star Iota Centauri. Find it in low power (25mm ep), then observe it with a 10mm ep. If you have a widefield 10mm, both the star and galaxy will be within the same field of view (fov). Your looking for a bright core- more diffuse looking than a star- with faint nebulosity surrounding it- a rectangle shape if you look closely. Use averted vision to see the extended nebulosity thus you'll see the galaxy larger in size.

For an awesome, bright, blue coloured PN, go for the Blue Racquetball in Ophiuchus- it's hard to miss and very striking!

A very easy to find PN with an impressive smoke ring shape is The Ring Nebula (M57). It lays smack bang in the middle of the two bright naked eye stars in the constellation of Lyra. While in Lyra, you have to check out the famous double double! This constellation doesn't rise very high in our sky so use a computer software sky programme to find out the time it's highest in the sky. The higher the object, the better the views will be as you're not contending with light pollution and the soup of the atmosphere low down.

Have a read of this thread for some tips:
How to hone observing sensitivity & accuracy.

And read this link How to master the art of averted vision.

As for finding appropriate targets for my size scope and my viewing location (light polluted backyard), I find the Collins Stars & Planets book very helpful. It's my favorite book & workhorse. I did a review of it (& pics) on post no #14 (it's a 3 part post, spaced across #13-#15) here.

I also did a thread a while back seeking help on finding planetary nebula which you may find helpful- it was for me! Look here.
And another very useful planetary nebula help thread here .

Let us know how you go finding and observing some of these objects on the list.