IC 1296 is a favorite deep-sky challenge within the visual observing community. It resides just 4' northwest of the famed planetary nebula, M57. It's this tantalizing proximity to the Ring Nebula that makes IC 1296 so tempting a quest for seasoned observers. The sketch at left renders a 272X view in the 18-inch Obsession. IC 1296's elongated form is centered, occupying a 48"x30" patch of sky and glowing faintly with a photographic magnitude of 14.8. The GSC star immediately to the northwest of the barred spiral shines in the mid-13th magnitude range. A 10th magnitude ember glows 1'.7 to the west-southwest. The other seven stars in my drawing range from mid-11th to mid-15th magnitude in brightness.