[gary]

Hi Ash,

From your location in Sydney, it rises to only about 15 degrees above your northern
horizon at midnight in early October, as also reported by Trevor.

That means you require an unobstructed view of the northern horizon. Since
the light pollution in Sydney is very bad at these large zenith distances, your
best bet is to get out of town.

For example, I have observed M31 from the ASNSW dark sky site near Ilford, NSW.

Is is readily viewable in the finder or naked eye.

Don't use a filter to observe galaxies.

Though it has an integrated magnitude of about 4.4, it is over 3 degrees across,
so the surface brightness is low. However, make no mistake, from a dark sky
site, this is a bright and obvious galaxy.

The best eyepiece to use is the one that frames the object you are looking at.
Higher magnifications are generally best for galaxies as they provide greater
contrast.

A Local Group member, rather than red-shifting, it is coming towards us!

Happy hunting!

Best Regards

Gary Kopff
Mt Kuring-Gai