Now, here's an object that reminds me of another deep-sky object shielded by the glare of a nearby bright star. That would be NGC 404 in Andromeda. Like its better known counterpart, Abell 12 is shy, hiding in the glare of nearby 4.1 magnitude Mu (61) Orionis. The star is centered in my sketch, which captures the view in the Obsession at 272X. Abell 12 appears as a delicate round patch against Mu's hazy overcoat. This delicate planetary nebula is better seen with an OIII filter in place. Its 37" diameter form lies just 50" northwest from Mu Ori. The 19.7 magnitude central star is not seen. Among the 32 stars framing the view, a wide pair of 10.6 mag. stars shine 6' to the north just inside the field boundary. A tighter pair of 10th and 11th mag. stars lie a bit closer, 4'.8 to the north-northwest.