Hi Ron, yes absolutely feasible in 12". I made a point of cleaning the mirrors of my 8"
IIS style and taking it out to a site where Bortle 2 borders on 1 last night. I can report fleeting glimpses averted in 8" and maybe 7/10 transparency. Initial impression was that the galaxy looked "way too busy" to just have a single core, and looking around it there were moments when a pin point of light showed up where the SN should be, and not the foreground star that's always there. Location was confirmed on screen by the astrograph that was set up alongside (and using the other eye to look at the screen obviously). Quite pleased with that