Cocoon neb, Quintet

[jetstream]

Just got back from a great session, the transparency was above avg for a change, allowing the 21.4 mag sky to show its stuff.

Following YKSE's great suggestion to follow the dust lane from near M39 down to its end has finally helped me see the very faint Cocoon neb  I also used RikM's idea to use the 2 pairs of stars to confirm the spot. This neb is very faint using my Hb- the "Super 25" and the 18mm BCO were used to catch the prize. Finally. Thanks to all who helped.

On to Pegasus to see if I could see those faint galaxy patches again....and yes they were there, a bit better tonight. MdStuart suggested sketching the stars around the suspect area to match up later on the map to confirm the galaxy. This works extremely well, no question- a couple of Stephans Quintet cores were seen. I also bagged NGC 7343 and confirmed it using the same method. Thanks for the great advice Mark.

Many other objects were viewed, many combos tried- an excellent night was had

[Qualia]

Great report, Gerry and glad to hear you had a very successful evening and great skies to boot

[Dave In Vermont]

Congratulations on bagging the Cocoon! I had a Dicken's of a time doing that - and I was using a LX200 12"! Sounds like a great night.

Clear and Dark Skies,

Dave

[RikM]

Well done

[Mark at Beaufort]

Well done Gerry and its shows that perseverance and a dark sky are worth the wait. I notice from my records that I saw the Cocoon back in September 2010 using a UHC not the H.Beta but have not viewed it since. Your thread makes me want to revisit and this time I will use the H.Beta to see what difference it makes.

So thanks Gerry for the heads up.

[scarp15]

Good to learn that Gerry and will spur others to try including myself, combining determination, research and a degree of luck concerning sky transparency.

[Special K]

Good stuff and congrats finding it! There' some good advice in there to try out, thanks. This is high up in the sky now so well placed for a look. I like a challenge and sounds like this one could be a toughie!

[YKSE]

Excellent work, Gerry. Glad can be of some help.

I'll certainly revisit Cocoon when the sky clear up here.

[John]

Congratulations Gerry and a very nice report

I must give the Cocoon another go with my 12" and the Lumicon H-B filter. I've yet to see anything through the filter so far and I'm starting to loose faith in it a bit. Spotting the Cocoon would buck me up prior to going Horsehead hunting this Autumn and Winter

[Dave In Vermont]

Congratulations Gerry and a very nice report

I must give the Cocoon another go with my 12" and the Lumicon H-B filter. I've yet to see anything through the filter so far and I'm starting to loose faith in it a bit. Spotting the Cocoon would buck me up prior to going Horsehead hunting this Autumn and Winter

The H-beta's rarely are useful, and then only for a handful of objects. A good bit of info can be found on this site:

http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/resources/by-dave-knisely/useful-filters-for-viewing-deep-sky-objects/

Worthwhile to prowl Prairie for other papers.

Clear Skies Mandatory,

Dave

[John]

The H-beta's rarely are useful, and then only for a handful of objects. A good bit of info can be found on this site:

http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/resources/by-dave-knisely/useful-filters-for-viewing-deep-sky-objects/

Worthwhile to prowl Prairie for other papers.

Clear Skies Mandatory,

Dave

My main filter for nebulae is an Astronomik O-III. I bought the Lumicon H-beta filter especially to track down the Horsehead and the handful of other objects that respond particularly well to it.

I'm found David Knisely's report useful over the years and it's a resource that I've recommended to others many times too

[scarp15]

I aim to also use my H-beta filter on the California Nebula when it becomes prominent. I believe that it will respond quite well to this filter, though it is large and so will require sweeping across with the scope to grasp any sense of structure, which I believe can be seen as several distinct hazy blobs.