Summer homework for newbies. Help

[FMA]

Hello,

due me excitement I’m beginning to see things I’d love if any more advanced user could write a list of 10 summer targets easy and beautiful to see here in a England.

thanks

 

 

[feverdreamer1]

What are you interested in? 

Also, what equipment do you have?

The more details you give us, the better we can answer

(I'm definitely not an advanced user, but can point out a few targets :))

Clear skies,

S

[FMA]

Skywatcher 130pds

interested un watch easy things.....I’m getting used to equipment!

got m31 yesterday.....

thanks

 

[RT65CB-SWL]

Cygnus is my summer favourite in binoculars or 'scope... anything else is a bonus. 
I am mainly a solar, lunar and planetary observer. 

[feverdreamer1]

I have a weak spot for double stars and clusters, right now, the best clusters are M13 (Hercules) and M4 (Scorpius). A nice double star (my favourite) is Albireo, such a stunning phenomenon. You don't mention anything about light pollution, if it's not that bad, have a go at the Veil Nebula (In the Cygnus constellation, it's quite easy to locate).

 

[Louis D]

In Lyra, you've got the Ring Nebula (M57) and the Double Double, both of which are easy to locate because it includes Vega, one of the brightest stars in the sky:

The star marked 2 above is Epsilon Lyrae, the Double Double (a pair of gravitationally bound double stars).  The object marked 9 is M57, the Ring Nebula.  It is practically dead center on the line between those two brighter stars, Sulaphat and Sheliak.  The rest are described in this excellent guide to Lyra on Weasner's website.

Edited July 29, 2020 by Louis D

[Kyle Allen]

The globular clusters M3, M5 and M13 (and the often overlooked M92!) are the best in northern skies. You can observe them while there is still some light in the sky and they are already in the west so catch them before they set. They are all quite easy to see in the finder scope if you have a good one, looking like a fuzzy star. Globular clusters take magnification well and it helps to resolve individual stars in the cluster. They are probably one of the few objects that look better with your own eyes than in images!

M27 (the Dumbbell Nebula) is a very pretty object, making a stark contrast against the background stars of the Milky Way. Spend some time on it and you should see be able to make out the twin-lobed shape - I think it looks like an apple core. It’s light is spread out over quite a large area so you may need to wait for the sky to get a bit darker to see it at its best.

M11 is a lovely open cluster in Scutum. If you have a fairly clear view down to the horizon, there are loads of bright nebulae and star clusters in Sagittarius. August is probably the best month to view them and the last chance you’ll get before next year! Check out M17, M8, M20, and M22. 

That makes 10 so I’ll leave it there...

Hope this helps! 😀

[Louis D]

On 29/07/2020 at 14:42, Kyle Allen said:

Check out M17, M8, M20, and M22. 

Definitely M17 and M22 are easy in light polluted skies (at least this far south they are).  I just enjoy sweeping the Milky Way to see what I see from time to time.  There are plenty of random open clusters and star associations and asterisms along it to marvel at.

[Daf1983]

From another inexperienced astronomer, I can only share what I've managed to find and observe over the past couple of months. I've mostly concentrated on easy targets to begin with, so globular cluster (m3, m5 and m13), as was mentioned above is a good place to start. There are loads of double stars to observe, albireo and the double double being my favourite so far. M57 or the ring nebula is also easy to find, and is also very impressive. I have also had great views of jupiter and saturn for the first time, even though they are not that high in the sky this year.

The next targets on my list in the dumbell nebula and I also want to try and observe a galaxy(not sure wwich one yet)  when the skies get a bit darker.

Good luck

[Daf1983]

I should have mentioned that this is with the skywatcher 200p dob in bortle 4/5 skies. Found all of the above fairly easy to find once I invested in a telrad

[Pixies]

1 hour ago, Daf1983 said:

From another inexperienced astronomer, I can only share what I've managed to find and observe over the past couple of months. I've mostly concentrated on easy targets to begin with, so globular cluster (m3, m5 and m13), as was mentioned above is a good place to start. There are loads of double stars to observe, albireo and the double double being my favourite so far. M57 or the ring nebula is also easy to find, and is also very impressive. I have also had great views of jupiter and saturn for the first time, even though they are not that high in the sky this year.

The next targets on my list in the dumbell nebula and I also want to try and observe a galaxy(not sure wwich one yet)  when the skies get a bit darker.

Good luck

Try M81 and M82 - easy to find and relatively visible in less than perfect skies.

[Gfamily]

If you have some binoculars, look for The Coathanger cluster in Vulpecula in the summer triangle.

Through the telescope, Epsilon Lyrae is the famous 'double double' and it's worth seeing if you can separate the closer doubles.

Summer can be a good time to look for the Ursa Major galaxies as they aren't too high, so can be easier to view at the eyepiece, though there's only short hours of decent darkness which can make it trickier.

[Daf1983]

12 minutes ago, Pixies said:

Try M81 and M82 - easy to find and relatively visible in less than perfect skies.

Thanks, I will do. I think these are quite high up in the sky at the moment, so the view will be less likely to obstructed from my back garden.

[Pixies]

I've attached a pic of their relative location M81 (Bode's nebula) and M82 (Cigar galaxy)

To star hop, my method is:

• follow the two stars from Ursa Major to the triangular 'arrow' asterism (all very visible in a 6x30 or 10x50 finder)
• then double-back to the 2 brighter stars that the arrow points towards
• from there, it's a similar distance as the separation of those 2 stars to the 2 galaxies. I've shown the FOV of a 25mm plossl in a 1200mm 8" dob (I've got a Bresser)

 

[Daf1983]

1 hour ago, Pixies said:

I've attached a pic of their relative location M81 (Bode's nebula) and M82 (Cigar galaxy)

To star hop, my method is:

• follow the two stars from Ursa Major to the triangular 'arrow' asterism (all very visible in a 6x30 or 10x50 finder)
• then double-back to the 2 brighter stars that the arrow points towards
• from there, it's a similar distance as the separation of those 2 stars to the 2 galaxies. I've shown the FOV of a 25mm plossl in a 1200mm 8" dob (I've got a Bresser)

 

Great, I'll give that a go once I have some clear skies

[IB20]

I’m a huge fan of the Garnet star (mu cephei) in Cepheus, I give it a look everytime my 200p is set up. La superba in Canes Venatici is a red giant carbon star which you may still be able to get at as well. 

The colouration of both are stunning.