[masraum]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

I've gotten some stunning views of the Orion nebula and Trapezium in my WO 102 refractor. Andromeda has never been much more than a smudge visually. My CPC 800 crushes Doubles and planets. Now if only I could actually see the sky for a change.

CPC 800 looks like the upgrade to what I've got. Same 8" SCT OTA, but slightly beefier mount and tripod and optical finder vs red dot finder and built in GPS.

Yes, Andromeda is just a smudge, but it's a big smudge. I can see it naked eye at our place. And I've never seen the two smaller nearby galaxies before last night. I'm looking forward to M51 and the summer galaxies (Virgo, Leo, etc....)

Some of the most spectacular views are the Orion nebula and Saturn and Jupiter. No matter how many times I see them, they always impress.

I also can just sit and stare at clusters, and it's always fun to try to split tight doubles. Most nebula are also just smudges, but they are often more well defined than most galaxies.

It's always odd when you see that a galaxy is listed as being quite bright, but you can barely see it because the light is spread out across a wide area vs being concentrated in a small spot.