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Some interesting observations in here. Would be amazing to have the opportunity to look through one of those big scopes! Most of my observing has been done under heavily light polluted skies, but in the last few months have found a place close by with mag 4 - 4.5 skies. Not great I know, but a big improvement over what I was used to.
About two months ago we had a nice clear night, and was without doubt my most memorable night of observing. And my favourite from that night was the Dumbbell Nebula (M27), an object I've seen lots of times, and never found that remarkable.
As I said, most viewing from light polluted skies, so normally only see the dumbbell shape, but this night could see the nebulosity down both sides & around it, making it look almost oval shaped. It was just so bright, and as I said, there was nebulosity there I'd never seen before. And this was without the use of any filters. This extra nebulosity is probably the norm for most people observing this object, but it was a sight to behold and a standout for me.
It was very striking, and I wish I'd spent more time on it, and tried my UHC & OIII filters, but when I saw how clear the night was, went over to NGC 253 & NGC 55.
The detail and size of these galaxies is fantastic, won't go into too much detail, but spent a lot of time on them. After that came NGC 1365 in Fornax. From the mag 4 skies I can always see the two arms, and they are quite clear with averted vision, but this night they stood out very clearly, and extended quite a long way. I really couldn't put those three galaxies in an order - I love observing them all - but I think NGC 1365 might have just taken the prize.
Looked at lots of other stuff that night too, but as someone who enjoys observing nebulae & has just discovered the beauty of galaxies, they were the standouts! Should also mention that 47 Tuc looked great as always, and though I was almost alseep on my feet, the Tarantula Nebula was amazing too, (it was still fairly low in the sky when I observed it though).
Unfortunately the northern wet season will be taking hold soon, so clear nights won't be so common. But can't wait to take my scope out to even darker skies in the new year.
By the way, my observations were in a 12" scope using a 13mm Ethos, mag 130x. Used a few different mags, but this is undoubtedly my favourite,
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