Deep sky challenge
On light summer nights, glittering star clusters, a dead star and a beautiful double star await
Usually we like to set you difficult observing challenges – faint star clusters, or nebulae so misty they’re almost not there – but as it’s summer and the sky never gets dark enough to see the really faint fuzzies, this month’s challenges aren’t so tough. However, providing the northern sky isn’t painted with a dramatic display of bright-blue and silver noctilucent clouds, if you stay up late the sky does get just dark enough to let you see some lovely sights through a telescope, and in the hours after midnight a telescope will give you very pleasing views of some beautiful objects.
Although the broad, frothy band of the Milky Way dominates the early summer sky – running right through Cygnus (the Swan) and cutting it and the whole sky in half – embedded in the Milky Way you will find the ghostly, rippled remains of dead stars and much more, and even a small telescope will give you a beautiful view of one of the loveliest and most popular double stars in the whole sky at the base of the Northern Cross. Don’t believe those who insist that the summer sky is a write-off. As long as you don’t mind a late night and bleary eyes the next morning, there’s still lots to see.
Messier 29
This little-known magnitude +6.6 open cluster contains only a few scattered stars, forming the shape of an open box or chest. Small to medium telescopes pick it out nicely from the background sky.
Veil Nebula
The ghostly remains of a star that blew up between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago, the seventhmagnitude Veil Nebula consists of two arcs of faint gas. A mediumaperture telescope is definitely needed to show structure and hints of colour.
Dumbbell Nebula (Messier 27)
While the famous Dumbbell Nebula is just a small smudge in small telescopes, medium and large-aperture instruments will show its twin lobes of blue-green gas – and on still nights the +13.5 star at its centre too.
Messier 39
This loose open cluster, roughly triangular in shape, covers roughly the same angular diameter in the sky as the Moon. It is best seen through small telescopes using low magnifications.
North America Nebula (NGC 7000)
Although this emission nebula covers as much sky as around four full Moons and can be seen in binoculars, a large telescope is needed to pick out its distinctive shape. Lower magnifications work best on light summer nights.
Albireo (Beta Cygni)
One of the most beautiful double stars, Albireo can be split into a third-magnitude gold star and a +4.7 sapphire-hued star, 20 inches apart, by even small telescopes. But larger scopes will also split the brighter star in the pair into two stars.