AndyC

Like you I had a similar experience with M46 the first time I saw it 11 years ago. I remember being chuffed about finding it, so I dug my notes out from then and a year later.

Using a 6” Meade Refractor. On the first two evenings couldn’t make it out even using averted vision just where I knew it should be! Then on the third after looking for a while glimpsed hazy patch at first and then resolved into many stars the majority of these will be below 11th Mag. I got the impression that there were well over 30 visible! No obvious signs of the Planetary nebula NGC 2438.

But, then 11 months later with a 10” Dobsonian. An Old Friend, easy to re-find but still tricky to see clearly, nevertheless a much better view than last year. Lots of really faint stars: there must be 60+ more fainter ones and hints of others in the background. Tried the UHC on the Planetary Nebula (NGC 2438) apparently contained within the cluster as it was clearly not going to be visible without it. Gotcha!

I also noted that the night’s early observations were disrupted by the sounds of intimacies coming through next doors open bathroom window😉😬😬