Andrew,
I would say all of them can be seen. Its a question of what instrument you
are using.
I found every galaxy listed, although I don't know how they selected the
ones they did. Most are well within the reach of my 12.5". I ran across
other galaxies brighter than many that are listed, and was able to observe
fainter ones that aren't. I found galaxy NGC1179 (mag 11.9, 4.7'X3.6) to be
particularly difficult, although you wouldn't guess that from it's stated
magnitude.
Some of the open clusters can be difficult if they lie in a particularly
dense part of the Milky Way.
The large nebulous regions, as you suspected, are the most challenging. Here
are some examples:
Page 1
NGC7822 - I could see the brightest sections of this large, 60' X 30'
nebula. A wide field scope with an OIII filter would undoubtedly be better.
IC1805 (60') and IC1848 (60' X 30') - I have photographed these, but have
not been able to see them visually.
Page 3
IC1396 (2.8° X 2.3°) - I have detected brighter regions of this nebula,
which surrounds an open cluster. Obviously, all of it can't fit within the
f.o.v. of my 12.5".
Page 4
IC499, the California Nebula - I haven't looked for it with my 12.5", but
I've seen it in wide field refractors with an H-beta filter.
IC348 - I could just detect some of the brighter regions.
Page 5
IC417 - I could detect the brighter regions.
S147 (also called Sh2-240) - I haven't been able to see this. The SA
Companion says its very difficult visually, normally detectable only on
red-sensitive film or a CCD. Why did they include it? I haven't any idea.
Page 9
All the parts of the Veil Nebula area are visible, especially with an OIII
filter.
Much of the North American and Pelican Nebulas are visible, especially with
filters.
Some patches of the nebulosity around gamma-Cygni are detectable. I've got
some nice photos of this area as well. One made it to Sky and Tel.
Page 11
Only the very large, unlabeled regions in Orion are not detectable.
Everything else is.
There are a few very small planetaries that I have to confirm.
This started as an example list, but its pretty much all of what I couldn't
see.
Albert
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---->Albert: >Are there any plotted objects on the SA 2000 that simply can't be seen? I'm >thinking of some of the larger nebulous regions, for example.
>Andrew Pierce
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