Summer Objects? Northern Hemisphere - UK

[Cuto100200]

Was just wondering what DSO's are good to see in summer, that aren't too hard for beginners to locate?

Moon is full currently so I guess it washes out a lot, but this is more for when the moon is no longer quite so prominent

This would include, globular and open clusters, nebulae, galaxies, just about anything really, with emphasis on beginner friendly

I have an 8" dob

Thanks for any suggestions

[John]

There are loads provided that you are OK to wait up until it gets properly dark.

The Ring Nebula (M57) in Lyra and the Dumbell Nebula (M27) in Vulpecula spring immediately to my mind. Both straight forward to find and observe with all scopes from 100mm and upwards.

My favorite Summer DSO is the Veil Nebula in Cygnus but you need a UHC or O-III filter to do that justice. It's very hard to see at all without such a filter !

The 2 magnificent globular clusters in Hercules, M13 and M92 should also be on the "must see" list.

I'm sure others will come forward with plenty more !

 

 

[Stu]

Definitely wait for the Moon to be out of the way a bit more, but would suggest the following:

M44, the Beehive Cluster and the nearby M67, both open clusters
M3 and M5, globular clusters

M13 and M92 are also getting better placed now, two more globulars

You could also try the Eskimo Nebula in Gemini and also the Ring Nebula in Lyra.

 

[Louis D]

The Double-Double, Albireo, and M17 also come to mind.  I don't know how far south you observe from, but there's also M7, M8, and M22.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

John's mentioned two of my faves, the Dumbell and Ring. The Ring Nebula especially is a little treat in a small scope.

Later in summer, M16 The Eagle Nebula is quite low but observable without filters.

Install Sky Safari and have a play.

Edited May 8, 2020 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[heliumstar]

3 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

John's mentioned two of my faves. The Ring Nebula especially is a little treat in a small scope.

Later in summer, M16 The Eagle Nebula is quite low but observable without filters.

Install Sky Safari and have a play.

Just out of curiosity....what do you consider small scope?

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

That's a minefield I don't want to tread on but, approximately a 70-120mm refractor, 90-127mm maksutov, 114-150mm reflector I'd consider 'small' & capable of providing reasonable views of any of the above under the right conditions. I'm sure someone will put me right and/or disagree. 'Small' is of course relative. One could consider any telescope that isn't a huge professional instrument housed in an observatory as 'small'.

I've dug out the Wiki definition and I wasn't so far off:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_telescope

Edited May 8, 2020 by ScouseSpaceCadet
Wiki link.

[John]

36 minutes ago, heliumstar said:

Just out of curiosity....what do you consider small scope?

I've seen the Ring Nebula in scopes from 70mm and upwards. I struggled to see it when I had just a 60mm scope but that was a long time ago and I may well not have known what to look for. It is a small object at low power and easily overlooked.

I have seen the Veil Nebula with a 70mm as well but I did need the help of a UHC filter and it was rather faint.

 

[Cuto100200]

How difficult is it to fully split double double, do conditions need to be near perfect? and what sort of magnification would be needed? 

Also thank you all for the suggestions, got a list now lol

[John]

20 minutes ago, Cuto100200 said:

How difficult is it to fully split double double, do conditions need to be near perfect? and what sort of magnification would be needed? 

Also thank you all for the suggestions, got a list now lol

With a 100mm scope, about 100x and upwards will do it. The stars in the 2 pairs are close together though so you need to look carefully to see that they are pairs of double stars. A larger aperture and the easier they are to split.

 

 

[Louis D]

16 hours ago, Cuto100200 said:

How difficult is it to fully split double double, do conditions need to be near perfect? and what sort of magnification would be needed? 

Also thank you all for the suggestions, got a list now lol

An absolute breeze to split at 80x in an 8" scope with a well figured mirror.  I'll have to try splitting it with my 70 ED, 90 APO, and 127 Mak just for fun this summer to see what's possible with smaller scopes.  I have a feeling the splits won't be as clean.