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More of the best galaxies for 8-12 inches
More of madbadgalaxyman's favourite galaxies:
Here are some more galaxies that show significant structure when viewed with 8-12 inches of aperture.
NGC 3115 - this edge on S0 galaxy has an interesting structure that can be plainly seen with careful visual observation.
NGC 6822 (Barnard's Galaxy) - this nearby Dwarf Irregular is of low surface brightness, and it is very extended, but careful observation will reveal its overall structure. This is also an excellent object for wide-field telescopes and large binoculars.
NGC 6744 - a bright galaxy which is, however, of very low surface brightness because it is so large and extended in the sky. As such, the detail that can be seen in it is considerable, but you need an excellent sky and you need to keep working at it, in order to figure out the structures that you are seeing.
Much of the structure of NGC 6744 can be seen by the visual observer, but this is a challenging object.
NGC 2442 - if you have an excellent sky, and you use averted vision, the bar and the spiral arms of this Barred Spiral can be seen (but be prepared to come back to this galaxy again and again, so as to get a good idea of what is in the field of your eyepiece, as it is very ghostly)
NGC 1313 - this object is very extended in the sky, with a large and strong bar. Very numerous isolated star clouds can be seen well outside of the bar. The highly unusual and rather asymmetric structure of this galaxy, which is on the borderline between an irregular galaxy and a spiral galaxy, can be discerned with the eye.
NGC 1566 - an impressive face-on spiral which can, under good conditions, reveal much of the detail that is seen in photographs. The arms are obvious, as is the bright star-like Seyfert nucleus.
NGC 3268 field - this is the Antlia cluster of galaxies. There are actually two concentrations of faint galaxies in the Antlia Cluster , and this is one of them. In this field, you might see up to a dozen galaxies in a single wide field. They are very faint, but it is nice to see "galaxies as grains of sand".
M77 - check out the starlike Seyfert active nucleus which virtually dominates the light of the entire galaxy!
M104 - The Sombrero is one of the few galaxies that visually looks just like it does in photographs.
NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 - this famous pair of colliding galaxies requires careful attention when viewed by eye, but I have always found that the overall structure of both of these strange galaxies can be discerned with visual observation.
NGC 3256 - a very odd galaxy that is an observational challenge. It is small, but of decent surface brightness. This galaxy is the result of a collision between two galaxies.
You will need to persist, if you wish to discern the "train wreck" morphology of this weird galaxy.
IC 4662 - distant dwarf irregulars are often very very faint when viewed by the eye, but this Dwarf Irregular galaxy's structure is plain to see, with the eye.
There are two supergiant nebular complexes in this galaxy that are visually obvious. These objects are comparable to the Tarantula Nebula.
NGC 4449 - this northern dwarf irregular galaxy is an excellent object for modest apertures.
N5102 and N5253 - these two dwarf S0 galaxies are of reasonably high surface brightness, and as such their overall structure can be discerned with 8-12 inches of aperture (if the sky is very good). These are low luminosity galaxies that are physically associated with M83 and NGC 5128, and they are well worth a look.
N4631 - an edge-on spiral with a very odd and somewhat distorted structure. Some of this can be seen with the eye.
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