Have tried with OII and Orion UltraBlock filters -- not a wisp.


Check out http://pages.sbcglobal.net/raycash/filters.htm for a nice catalog
of objects and their response to different filters. M1 is faint, and you
may be expecting too much. These faint fuzzies pop out a little more when
you move the scope a bit, or even just tap on it. I congratulate you on
trying to find stuff yourself - my sons, our friends, and I find that
tracking stuff down is often at least as exciting as the actual observation.
Let's face it, it is hard to get excited about the view of M1 in a smallish
scope from light-polluted sites, though it certainly helps to know a bit
about the target. We also "discover" a lot of stuff ourselves!

If you can't see it, then just move on to something else and come back to it
when it is higher in the sky, a better/darker night, etc. In fact, why not
join your local astro club, and attend some events at their dark(er)
observing site? You will find all kinds of knowledgeable folks to observe
with.

Dennis