Quote:
Originally Posted by glenc
M104 is better in a telescope but M33 is better in binoculars from here
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Hi Glenn, Rob,
I dunno about that one. M33 is one of my favourite telescopic galaxies. At Coonabarabran it only gets to about 30 deg above the horizon, but is visible naked eye when conditions are favourable. Under those same conditions in a medium to large telescope an absolute wealth of detail is visible. There are numerous and large HII regions including NGCs 588, 592, 595, and NGC 603 and 604, plus several IC objects, all visible in an 18" telescope. The spiral arms are also clearly visible. At higher powers because of its apparent size it is too large for the FOV and you need to move the scope around to take it all in. I also love the Sombrero. It is a very easy object in smaller scopes, and the dust lane is evident in those same scopes, but for mine it doesn't have the available detail that M33 does. To be honest I love 'em both to death.
I can appreciate this post is in the "beginner's" section. However, many people start out these days with 10" or 12" newtonians and M33 has plenty to offer for that size telescope.
Cheers,
John B