Cocoon Nebula fail

[DarkerSky]

Was on the hunt for the Cocoon Nebula last night with my 12" scope. Got the exact location, but after using various combinations of eyepieces and filters I could not pull it out from the background. Sky was a 5.3 and transparency wasn't all that great. Will give it a go with my 16" next time conditions allow, but I think this one might have to wait until I get to North Wales at the end of next month with its 6.2 mag skies

At least I got a nice view of M2, M11 and a solitary Delta Aquarid.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I think I got the Cocoon from a very dark site with my 80 mm with 17mm Nagler and UHC filter: a slightly brighter circular region studded with stars at the end of the serpentine dark nebula B168. Difficult object which clearly requires dark skies. Given its angular size, I do not think you need huge magnification. Clear skies and a narrow-band filter should work.