[QUOTE=plasmodium]I was out in the bush outside of Weipa in August, and was up in the wee hours one night, so I went outside with my binos to try and see Andromeda.... but used a Nthn Hemisphere chart so looked on the wrong side of the "arms" for the thing - missed out - was cloudy from then on too...
Coz I have always lived around the -30 to-35 latitude mark I have never had a particually good view of M31. Most of the time it has looked like a grey elliptical blur. But once when I was living in Nelson Bay I viewed the Andromeda with a Tasco 114mm Reflecter complete with crappy 1" diameter eyepieces and unbelievably I could see detail including the dark lane.
