how far?

Interesting question... Risa said one of her students asked "how far can you see" with your telescope. I examined my life lists and log notes in SkyTools and it looks like Messier 77 at 70 million light years is the furthest object I've seen in an 8-inch telescope.

Quasar 3C 273 in Virgo is magnitude 12.8. Easy in C8... Best viewed in May.

I've gone much further with bigger instruments... of course. The C14 at the CAO and Ian's 20" Dob. 140 million light years to 9 billion light years!