For me it is NGC1365 in Fornax - its outreaching spiral arms are visible in my 12.5" scope. It kind of looks like some ninja star ready to be thrown! I agree that M104 is great - easily in my top 10
I have attached a sketch of it that I did last new moon. The sketch probably highlights the arms fractionally more than direct vision does (heavy on the pencil), but the detail in the sketch was all seen at the eyepiece.
G'day Andrew you are dead right, I am here thousands of clicks away from my Astronomy books M104 it is. I will check out NGC 1365 when I get back to Oz, looks wicked.
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...
Can't say I've seen a galaxy yet - although - does omega centauri count....
hoping to grab some on the weekend.....
[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.
Not counting LMC and SMC which are both wonderful targets in their own right. I rate them in this order.
NGC 5128 (Centaurus A) type Pec (Peculiar) galaxy in Centaurus
M104 (Sombrero) type Sa spiral galaxy in Virgo
M83 (Southern Pinwheel) type SABc spiral galaxy in Hydra
1, M103, prominant dark lane even in medium size scopes, elegant shape.
2, LMC
3, Centaurus A , Distinctive even thru 120mm refractor.
4, NGC 253 lots of detail, fine field.
5, M83 spiral structure visable even in moderate light pollution with a 200mm Dob.
6, NGC 55 in sculptor
7, 3C 273 Quasar in Virgo. not much to look at but it's sheer distance makes this a remarkable object.
8, SMC
I will exclude the three obvious choices of milky way, LMC, SMC and just go for the mostly telescopic/binocular ones - this is more the tourist "galaxy experiences" list some of my reasons are nostalgic too
1, NGC 253 the "silver coin galaxy"
2, NGC 104 "sombrero"
3, M31 Andromeda galaxy and companion
4, NGC 5128 "hamburger galaxy"
5, NGC 1365 - i will never forget the first time I saw this galaxy properly thru an f5 13" at a dark site - blew us away! its so different to the rest
6, Leo triplet
7, NGC 55
8, NGC 4945 - smoky ghost of a galaxy - one of my first - sentimental
9, a drive thru the virgo cluster down thru to Coma Berenices with a large aperture @ low power at a dark site is something to behold - a river of galaxies!
10, NGC 7331 - nice little edge on - dont know why I like it so much? its just a nice snack after andromeda while in area
Kearn
I agree with Andrew being heavy on the pencil but the detail is there with averted vision in NGC 1365. We tried lower power (31 Terminagler) but that did not improve the views. Anyway hand's down my fave galaxy is our home galaxy, the milky way. You don't even need a telescope to enjoy the views of the clusters, nebula's etc. As for telescopic galaxies, NGC 253 wins hands down followed closely by M83
Yep I would have to say that your first look at NGC 1365 through a large scope blows you away ! another for me was the spanish Dancer Galaxy with Its tight swirling spiral arms.
Oh no I have to go and lay down now and dream of giant Dobs !
)
