On a good clear night I recently, I spotted Centaurus A through binos in my light polluted suburb when it was about 55 degrees high. Feint, small, elongated and fuzzy- but very definitely there in the binos. A check on Starry Night software confirmed my sighting as I sketched the surrounding stars (which will be useful as a star hop with the scope). I now look forward to pointing my scope at it when next I get a good, clear sky as this object has eluded me in my scope from the previous summer.
If I can get it in my 10x60 binos, you should be able to get it in your scope, but wait till it's high enough and the sky is clear. High cloud is a real killer - even for binos pointing at bright star clusters. High cloud is tricky- the sky looks clear, but its not. And you will notice the stars twinkling a lot. If you look at the sky just before it turns dark you will see the high cloud I mean. Last nights horrible viewing session with my binos was a good example of that. Generally I don't bother taking the scope out when that's the case and settle for bino viewing instead.
Andromeda galaxy is absolutely breathtaking, big and bright in a scope and takes up the whole field of view. I've only viewed this from a dark site though, not sure how it holds up in Suburbia. It's not time for Andromeda though, but do remember to have a look at it when it comes back, as it is a real jaw dropper.
Great thread by the way, I'm writing down all these suggestions others have posted. This is a question I was going to start a thread myself on soon.
Happy galaxy hunting!
