Summer is upon us and with it shorter but warmer observing evenings. Don't forget your bug spray when going out to do some observing. I've had a few evenings ruined by mosquitoes thanks to forgetting my spray. With so many showcases to pick from in the summer sky it was tough to pick a few top picks this month. The summer Milky Way which runs on a line through Cygnus, Scorpius and Sagittarius is filled with hundreds of gems for the telescopic observer. Below I'll attempt to give you a sample of a few of these but a good star chart is essential as there's so much to choose from.
Beginning in the constellation Lyra, we'll start with the famous Ring Nebula (M57). M57 is one of the easiest DSO's to locate due to it's position in the center of 2 bright stars (Sheliak and Sulafat). These are the lower 2 stars of the parrallelogram that make up a portion of the constellation Lyra. The parallelogram hangs off of one of the brightest stars in the sky, Vega. Push the power up on this gem to get the most out of observing it. I've used as much as 182X in my 4.5" scope with wonderful results. In my 8" at high powers (200+X) I've noted visible color (bluish-green). M57 is a planetary nebula located 1000 - 5000 lightyears away.
Moving down to Scorpius and the very bright star Antares we'll find M4, a globular cluster. M4 is another very easy target due to it's close proximity to Antares. M4 is located just to the South of Antares. Placing Antares toward the Eastern edge of your finderscope will put M4 in the view of a low power eyepiece. Once again, this is a target that responds very well to magnification. M4 is located approximately 7000 lightyears away and contains hundreds of thousands of stars.
Also in the area is another globular cluster, M80. M80 is about one finderscope's width Northwest of M4. M80 is located about 30,000 lightyears from us and contains hundreds of thousands of stars as well. It shows a nice contrast with the much more impressive M4 due to the differences in distance.
East of Antares is the constellation Ophiuchus. This is a treasure trove of globular clusters, most of which I've found to be easily resolvable in my 4.5" scope at 133X. Grab a chart and hunt through the constellation.
Well that's about it for this month. Happy hunting!