Well last night i was able to check off M74 and 77, and with that my Messier 110 challenge is done. It took me over a year to get this done. I am now 5 targets into the Caldwell list.
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Congratulations.
Regards
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Thank you, I appreciated it
So what are your favorite Messier objects ?
I’ve gone through the Messier catalog completely twice , Once with my 8” Schmidt Newtonian then again with my 5” Achromatic Refractor the following season . It took me about a year to do each . But in the mean time I took my time with various eyepieces and magnifications and logged the optimum fitter if any and magnifications for each object and did that for each scope . It can be quite different for both filter and magnification depending on the scope and aperture being used . So now I have a basic starting point for optimum view of each object cataloged for both scopes . Depending on seeing conditions of any givin night , small adjustments in magnification will dial you right in pretty quick so you spend more time looking than trying to figure out what eyepiece and filter to use having already done my homework on it all . Having that starting point on hand is a big benefit . Of course as with most DSOs , viewing from a good dark site like Bortle 1 or 2 
helps more than anything else when it comes to grabbing the most detail out of them . All my observations were done at a good dark sky site . When seeing is good you can push a bit more magnification or if it’s not the greatest you just back it down as needed . I’d rather stay with a bit lower or more conservative magnification having a crisp image than go higher and lose any resolution . As soon as optimum detail shows the slightest bit of image degradation , I’ll back it down one notch .
Well , that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it . 
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Sorry man i just saw your post this morning. For me it breaks down a bit like this.
Nebula…do I really need to say it? Ok, I will. The sexiest of them all, at least in my skies, The Orion Nebula. At 200x and a 100 degree eyepiece in my 16 inch…well that defines what a WOW factor.
Globular Clusters…it would be hard to say there is a better one then the Hercules Cluster. I have gone to 400x on it once but again in the 16 inch i get my best views around 200 to 250x
Open Clusters. If anything out there defines diamonds on black velvet, its the Pleadies. How do you beat that.
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Yep. The Messier list is a must have. I went completely through it when I was beginning. And sometimes grab one when I’m waiting for my first love, Nebulae are all shot up.
But I blame Orion (M-42) for my fascination with Nebula. It was my first find with a spotting scope. Still a favorite.
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