Was this the North America Nebula?

I had the opportunity to observe under excellent skies recently using a 120mm F5 refractor with a 35mm Panoptic (17X) and UHC filter. Just to the east of Deneb was a huge field of nebulosity glowing with an icy subdued incandescence. It was absolutely one of the most gorgeous sights I have seen in three years of stargazing. I am thinking that it had to be the N.A. nebula,(which I had never before seen) but what I saw was larger even than the 3.6 degree true field of the Panoptic. Isn't the N.A. nebula only 1.5 degrees across?

It certianly sounds like the N.A. nebula, which is certainly over 3 degrees across. The veil is just about 1.5 degrees across (also in Cygnus). I find both to be fairly awe inspiring, and worth the cost of a 2 inch UHC filter.

Doug,

It certainly sounds like you did see NGC 7000 (the North America Nebula),which lies about 3 degrees away from Denber and is larger than the figure you mentioned. A roughly V-shaped asterism leads from Deneb and cuts through the East Coast of NGC 7000 and IC 5067-70 (the Pelican Nebula). Under exceptional skies the Pelican Nebula is also visible through rich-field telescopes.

See http://www.astro.univie.ac.at/~koprolin/Photo/Neb/Northamerican_Pelican_APO.html

Dave Mitsky