One of the thrills of my youth was seeing Andromeda through my 2.4” refracting telescope when I was about 15. In the wintertime against a moonless sky. It took a while to zero in on it but it finally appeared in my eyepiece. Not a spectacular view in such a small scope, just a dim patch of light, but undeniably there. All I could think of was the time it took for that light to impinge upon my retina.