If I can see the Eskimo, can I see galaxies?

[Manok101]

I was kind of surprised when I finally did recognize the tiny little blip that was the eskimo, so my question is if I can see this in my area can I see galaxies here? (I can see Andromeda, found that at least once)

[pvaz]

You should be able to see some of the brightest ones. Try M81 and M82. They sit together near the big dipper and you can see both at once.

[riklaunim]

There is also one factor - surface brightness. Most of small planetary nebulas have very high surface brightness (O-III is glowing there like crazy). So compare surface magnitude with the given "standard" magnitude for the object. For planetary nebulas surface brightness is high, while the standard brightness is low (so such nebula is prominent vs the background). You should be able to see all galaxies that have high surface brightness, or those that in general are bright (like Andromeda).