OBSERVING Going Deep the eyepiece. In my 16-inch Newtonian at 96× B150 was tough at its southwestern end but reasonably obvious in the section between about RA 20h 49m and the short line of three stars (centered by HD 199097) plotted on the northern edge of the dark nebula at RA 20h 52m on Millennium Star Atlas chart 1074. (I find MSA to be the best atlas to use when observing dark nebulae.) At B150's eastern end, the Seahorse's head was less apparent but HIGH CONTRAST Successful deep-sky observing often depends on black-and-white images. The red hue in color images of nebulae is difficult to see if you're using a dim red flashlight to preserve your eyes' adaptation to dark. IC 1396 was visible with some effort. Tiny B148 and B149 are adjacent to the Seahorse, but I failed on them. Several dark nebulae are silhouetted against the dim 3°°-wide glow of the Cepheus emission nebula IC 1396, if you keep the deep orange supergiant Mu (μ) Cephei (popularly known as Herschel's Garnet Star) out of the field of view. The nebulosity is energized primarily by the O5 lucida of the central triple star, Struve 2816 (HD 206267). I used the black-and-white image of IC 1396 taken by Rajiv Gupta shown below, since red images of nebulae become invisible when using dim red flashlights. At 96× winding B365 is subtle, but I traced its full length, except for the very thin northern streak. Mu Cephei B161 Elephant Trunk Nebula Struve 2816 B365 B163 RAJIV GUPTA 58 November 2016 sky & telescope