Dave Knisely's Filter Performance Comparisons For Some Common Nebulae Quick Reference Ref Name DEEP-SKY UHC OIII H-BETA Recommendation M1 CRAB NEBULA 3 4 3 0 UHC/DEEP-SKY (H-beta *not* recommended) M8 LAGOON NEBULA 3 5 5 2 UHC/OIII M16 EAGLE NEBULA 2 4 4 2 UHC/OIII, but H-BETA hurts the view M17 SWAN (OMEGA) NEBULA 3 4 5 1 OIII/UHC (H-BETA not recommended) M20 TRIFID NEBULA 2 4 3 4 UHC/H-BETA M27 DUMBELL NEBULA 3 5 4 1 UHC (OIII also useful in showing some inner detail, but H-BETA is NOT recommended) M42 GREAT ORION NEBULA 3 5 4 3 UHC/OIII (near-tie) M43 North part of Great Orion Nebula 3 3 2 4 H-BETA (UHC and Deep-Sky also help) M57 RING NEBULA 2 4 4 0 UHC/OIII (H-BETA is NOT recommended!) M76 “MINI-DUMBELL” or BUTTERFLY NEBULA 2 4 3 0 UHC/OIII (H-BETA NOT recommended!) M97 OWL NEBULA 2 4 5 0 OIII/UHC (H-beta *not* recommended) NGC 40 3 3 2 2 DEEP-SKY/UHC (near tie) NGC 246 2 3 4 0 OIII/UHC. (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 281 3 4 4 2 UHC/OIII. NGC 604 HII region in galaxy M33 in Triangulum 2 3 4 2 OIII/UHC NGC 896/IC 1795 “Heart” nebula 3 4 4 1 UHC/OIII (H-beta *not* recommended) NGC 1360 2 4 4 0 OIII/UHC (H-beta *not* recommended) NGC 1491 3 5 4 0 UHC/OIII (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 1499 CALIFORNIA NEBULA 2 2 1 4 H-BETA NGC 1514 CRYSTAL-BALL NEBULA 2 4 4 0 OIII/UHC (H-Beta NOT recommended) NGC 1999 2 1 1 1 DEEP-SKY NGC 2022 3 4 5 0 OIII/UHC (H-Beta NOT recommended) NGC 2024 FLAME NEBULA 3 3 2 1 DEEP-SKY/UHC (near tie) NGC 2174 2 4 4 0 UHC/OIII (near tie) (H-Beta NOT recommended) NGC 2327 2 3 2 4 H-BETA/UHC NGC 2237-9 ROSETTE NEBULA 2 5 5 1 UHC/OIII NGC 2264 CONE NEBULA 2 3 2 1 UHC (other filters may be more useful in larger apertures) NGC 2359 THOR’S HELMET 2 4 5 0 OIII/UHC (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 2346 2 3 3 0 UHC/OIII (near tie) (H-beta *not* recommended) NGC 2438 2 3 4 0 OIII (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 2371-2 2 4 4 0 OIII/UHC (near tie) (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 2392 ESKIMO NEBULA 2 4 4 0 OIII/UHC. (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 2440 2 4 4 0 UHC/OIII (near tie) (H-Beta not recommended) NGC 3242 GHOST OF JUPITER 2 4 4 1 UHC/OIII (near tie) (H-Beta not recommended) NGC 4361 2 4 4 0 UHC/OIII (near tie), (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 6210 2 4 4 1 OIII/UHC (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 6302 BUG NEBULA 2 3 3 0 OIII/UHC (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 6334 2 4 3 3 UHC (OIII and H-beta also useful) NGC 6445 2 4 3 0 UHC/OIII (H-beta *not* recommended) NGC 6357 2 3 4 1 OIII/UHC (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 6543 CAT’S EYE 2 4 4 1 OIII/UHC (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 6559 2 4 2 2 UHC NGC 6781 3 4 4 0 OIII/UHC (H-beta *not* recommended) NGC 6804 2 3 4 0 OIII/UHC (H-beta *not* recommended) NGC 6888 CRESCENT NEBULA 2 4 5 1 OIII/UHC (near tie). H-beta *not* recommended!) NGC 6905 the Blue Flash” planetary Nebula 3 4 4 1 UHC (H-beta *not* recommended) NGC 6960-95 VEIL NEBULA 3 4 5 1 OIII/UHC (OIII is somewhat better but H-BETA is NOT recommended) NGC 7000 NORTH AMERICAN NEBULA 2 4 4 3 OIII/UHC (near tie) but both H-BETA and DEEP-SKY are useful on the objec NGC 7008 2 4 4 0 OIII/UHC (H-Beta *not* recommended!) NGC 7009 SATURN NEBULA 2 4 4 1 Filters are not needed, but OIII/UHC will help bring out the fainter detail (H-BETA not recommended) NGC 7023 3 2 2 1 DEEP-SKY NGC 7026 2 3 3 0 OIII/UHC *near tie* (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 7027 2 4 4 0 OIII/UHC *near tie* (H-BETA not recommended!) NGC 7048 2 3 4 0 OIII/UHC (H-Beta *not* recommended!) NGC 7129-33 2 3 3 1 UHC/OIII NGC 7139 2 3 4 0 OIII/UHC (H-Beta *not* recommended) NGC 7293 GIANT HELICAL NEBULA 2 4 5 0 OIII/UHC (H-beta NOT recommended) NGC 7538 3 4 4 0 UHC/OIII (H-beta NOT recommended) NGC 7635 BUBBLE NEBULA 2 4 4 3 OIII/UHC NGC 7662 BLUE SNOWBALL 2 3 3 1 Filters are not really needed, but UHC/OIII may help with locating it at low power via “blinking” (H-BETA is not recommended) NGC 7822 2 3 2 2 UHC (H-Beta and OIII also useful) IC 405 FLAMING STAR NEBULA 2 3 2 4 H-BETA IC 410 Nebula assoc. with NGC 1893 2 4 4 0 OIII/UHC. (H-beta *not* recommended) IC 417 2 3 3 4 H-BETA/UHC IC 434 HORSEHEAD NEBULA 2 3 0 4 Lumicon H-BETA (UHC also helps, but OIII not recommended). IC 443 1 4 3 2 UHC IC 1283 2 3 3 4 H-Beta IC 1318 GAMMA CYGNI NEBULA 2 3 1 4 H-BETA/UHC (OIII *not* recommended) IC 1396 2 4 3 1 UHC IC 1848 The Baby Nebula 2 4 4 1 UHC (H-beta *not* recommended) IC 2177 Seagull Nebula 2 3 2 3 H-BETA/UHC IC 5067-70 PELICAN NEBULA 2 4 4 3 UHC/OIII, Deep-sky also useful on the object (UHC was brighter, but OIII shows more detail) IC 5076 2 2 2 3 H-Beta IC 5146 THE COCCOON NEBULA 2 3 1 3 H-BETA/UHC *near tie* (OIII not recommended). PK64+5.1 CAMPBELL’S HYDROGEN STAR 2 3 2 4 H-BETA (UHC also useful) PK205+14.1 MEDUSA NEBULA 2 3 4 0 OIII/UHC *near tie* (H-beta *not* recommended) PK164+31.1 HEADPHONE NEBULA 2 3 3 0 UHC/OIII *near tie* (H-beta *not* recommended) Sh2-13 2 4 2 2 UHC Sh2-54 2 4 2 3 UHC Sh2-84 1 3 1 2 UHC Sh2-101 2 3 2 3 UHC/H-BETA Sh2-112 3 4 4 1 OIII/UHC (H-beta not recommended) Sh2-132 2 4 4 3 OIII/UHC (near tie) Sh2-155 2 1 1 0 DEEP-SKY (probable reflection nebula). Sh2-157 “fingers” diffuse nebula 2 3 3 2 UHC/OIII Sh2-170 2 3 2 2 UHC Sh2-171 2 3 2 2 UHC (Deep-Sky and OIII filters also useful) Sh2-235 3 3 2 4 H-BETA/DEEP-SKY (UHC also helps.) Sh2-261 2 3 3 2 UHC/OIII (near tie) Sh2-276 BARNARD’S LOOP 1 2 0 3 H-BETA/UHC. (OIII not recommended) Sh2-254-5-6-7-8 2 3 2 3 H-BETA/UHC (near tie) Sh2-311 3 4 3 0 UHC/Deep-Sky (H-Beta not recommended) vdB93 Gum-1 2 3 1 4 H-BETA/UHC (OIII not recommended) Source: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/filter-performance-comparisons-for-some-common-nebulae/.